Melting the Ice
by supernova316
Summary: Lorelei of the Kanto Indigo League faces a heavy burden...her death. What will she do about it? Or better yet, will she do anything about it?
1. Chapter 1: The Vision

_Prologue:_

_She always stares in the same view, same angle, and same vast ocean. She always looks unfocused and spaced out. If you throw a question at her, her answers would usually have no connection with the question. She always talks about the calmness of the sea, the stillness of the ocean and the mystery of life. Her strategy in life is to go with the flow, like water, but to become as hard as ice during battle._

_Lorelei of the Elite Four Indigo League was mentored by Pryce, the gym leader whose emotions have been frozen as dry ice. She inherited his passiveness, although she balances her interest between her skills and her Pokémon. She spends most of her time alone, meditating, reflecting, about the hidden strength and the bond that ties her with her Pokémon._

_As she defends her position in the Elite Four, she gives out her best when battling challenging trainers. For once, she had not considered love, even though with her looks and skills, she can command an army of men to kneel before her. She always turns them down, in hope that she can pay more attention to Pokémon battles._

_Agatha has a vision, and advices her to be careful in every thing that she does._

_In the expanse of time, she meets this guy, only two years older than her, yet he speaks as if he had gone through the cycle of life for a hundred times already. He has skills like hers, and talks to her in the same way that she does. But in a way, the two of them live in different worlds. He has a warm smile, a smile that can make one feel comfortable, while she has her icy heart, which ironically contradicts her flaming red hair._

_The question is:_

_Is the new guy's smile enough to melt her frozen heart? Or will she die first before any of these happen?_

**Chapter 1: The Vision**

The Pokemon Indigo League was done with their day, a dozen trainers had tried to reach the top, but most of them cannot even pass through Lorelei. Only three of those trainers were lucky enough to defeat her, but then again, they were all wiped out by Bruno.

"They seem to have lost their fighting spirit then." said Agatha, as she was moving to and fro on her rocking chair, Gengar's Pokéball on her lap. "Don't you think so too?"

Bruno scoffed, closing the velvet curtains not taking a glance at the dark atmosphere, he hated nighttime. He hated the dark, the stars, the moon, and all things that were connected with the night. "They had; really, I sensed it, although they had not trained long enough. That's what I think."

"These past days, the number of challengers had become fewer." added Lance, easing down on a soft couch. He turned to the other member of the Elite Four on the corner, "What do you think, Lorelei?"

Bruno and Agatha turned their heads to the other side of the room near the bookshelves. Lorelei took her view away from the old thick book that she was reading and lifted her head a little to face them,

"They do not have confidence in standing up for themselves. They usually have their strengths at first, but lose all of them in the middle of the battle." she spoke, voice taunting. After that, she bowed her head again to meet the book, her fiery red hair falling down on her forehead.

"Very well then, it's not like we can do anything to make them stronger." mumbled Bruno, seating on the large couch where Lance sat on the other end of.

The others decided to leave the subject there; Agatha shrugged, and caressed the Pokéball on her lap with utmost care as she continued to rock back and forth. Lance showed no response and dug himself more on the custom made Elite Four chaise lounge. Lorelei flipped through the pages of the book, looking for an interesting trivia about Ice-type Pokémon since most of the facts that were written were already known by her. Bruno sighed about the silence.

They haven't been much busy these past few days—weeks. What they were looking for was a strong challenger. Bruno thought over the idea of having a trainer who would swipe all of them in their feet. He smirked, yeah, like that'll happen. In the Pokémon League, it's either a group of strong trainers will challenge them one by one and lose at Agatha or the champion, or a boring week with weak trainers and finally a strong one who will either defeat the champion or lose on the final second. Smirking again, Bruno dismissed the idea off his mind.

After a few minutes of silence among the four best trainers in Kanto, Agatha felt a cold breeze which made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The old woman managed to stifle a gasp. The other three immediately turned their heads to the old hag. They all knew she had a vision again, although often times, she just jerk her head upwards.

"Lorelei," Agatha spoke up, her voice quivering. The young lady inquisitively raised an eyebrow in response. The old woman waved a warning finger at her, her voice was, if not, threatening,

"_Be very, very careful. I saw a vision of death in your heart. You might lose yourself._"

All of them almost gasped, eyebrows raised, even Lorelei herself. It was a rare chance that Agatha will stumble upon a death vision—the last time she saw visualization about death was four years ago, when Bruno's father died of heart attack. She warned her beforehand, Bruno made all precautions and advised all of his family members to take a week off work. None had thought that his father's weak heart will be the reason of his death.

"What?" Lance stood up, flaring. He faced Agatha with bitter resentment. Looking twice at Lorelei who's astoundingly in state of shock, he gritted his teeth, "You mean Lorelei's going to die?!"

Agatha gulped nervously. What would she say? Tell them that it was a joke? It was not. She saw only a glimpse of death but it was so clear in her mind—and so was Lorelei's image. She was crying, as Agatha saw her, hands on her face, her flaming red hair seemed to lose all its color, and a clear view of death inside her.

"Lance," Bruno urged for the younger man to calm down. Heeding Bruno's advice, Lance sat back on the couch grudgingly, his eyebrows now as pointed as pencil ends. Bruno clenched his fist, whenever Agatha has her premonitions, it always comes true.

…_Always_.

Lorelei took a sharp breath and closed the thick book with a thud. She nudged her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she put the book back in its place in the bookshelf. A vision of Agatha of death in her, is she going to die? She stood up from the office chair and headed to the spiral staircase towards their rooms inside the large building of the Pokémon League which also serves as their home.

Things racing on their minds, the rest of the Elite Four eyed the Ice Queen as she makes her way to the long stairs. What is the proper thing to do? Confine her in a safe room for the rest of her life? Close the entire Pokémon League for half a year or until Agatha receives another vision? They do not know. This isn't a matter that should be taken lightly.

"Lorelei," breathed Lance, just before Lorelei takes her first step on the stairs. She turned back to see all of their troubled faces, especially Agatha's. Lance stood up, and from across the room, he spoke cautiously,

"Take care."

Lorelei nodded slowly, sighing deeply. Turning her back again to continue her plight on the stairs, she felt numbness envelop her own being. She doesn't really believe in visions, but Agatha's visions were a different story. She should be careful—she could die anytime soon.

"Don't worry, I will." she whispered, finally climbing the stairs only to perish beneath the shadows.

She knew that everyone will die at a certain time, a certain place. She knew it all along; anyone can die at any minute.

_What bothered her was if she can embrace death at this point of her life, the point where she was all alone._

_--  
_

_**Author's notes:**_What do you think? Reviews please! I'll update as soon I finish the other chapters. What will Lorelei do to avoid the path of destiny?


	2. Chapter 2: The Unwanted Challenger

**Chapter 2: The Unwanted Challenger**

Lorelei woke up with a medium-sized Seel doll between her body and her bed. As the light colored curtains let weather shine on her sleeping figure, it didn't take much time for her to get up from her sleep. She yawned, fanning her mouth as she reached for her glasses on top of the drawer beside the bed.

7:00 am. It was her wake-up time everyday, even though her Elite Four duty starts on eleven. She stood up, and headed for the glass window. She pushed the curtains aside and sighed disappointedly as the view met her misty blue eyes.

No chirping birds. No morning sun. No glory of waking up in the morning. It was raining heavily. Moist had formed across the glass windows, the long raindrops making their large puddles down the ground. The sky, tainted a gloomy shade of gray, seemed to be crying. Taking her view off the sad atmosphere outside, she headed for the bathroom and took a hot bath.

After the hot bath, and all dressed over, Lorelei glanced at her image when she passed by the mirror near the door. She had her hair tied on a low ponytail with small Pokéballs as decorative accessories to her plait, her eyeglasses on her eyes, and her sleeveless black top showing a bit of her cleavage, a thick golden bracelet on her right wrist and her skirt that cut up two inches above her knees. Not really the self-admiring type, Lorelei ignored her beautiful image and went out to get some morning coffee.

As she took sips of her hot coffee while sitting on the couch on the lobby of the building, Lorelei's mind could remember the scene last night. She was going to die soon—Agatha said it herself. Looking around, the reception counter where a young lady stood, the empty stairs, the closed doors of the building, she knew she was the first one to wake up today. On sunny days, it was Bruno who always wakes up at four, but on rainy days, it was a different story. Lorelei sighed and picked the newspaper on top of the coffee table directly infront of her.

_Kanto Daily Inquirer_. She set her half-filled mug and held the newspaper with both of her hands in search for the recent news section. Finally arriving on the desired page, her eyes narrow with the headline printed in big letters: _Legendary Trainer up Ahead!_ Her eyes narrowed. The article piqued her interest, in the least. She read on, only to find out that there was a trainer who came from Fallarbor Town of Hoenn and had beat all eight gyms of Kanto in just three days and is planning to defeat the Champion as soon as possible.

"You should enjoy waking up late during rainy days." Agatha's voice made Lorelei stop from further reading the long article about the success of a young trainer whose name was yet to be known. Agatha descended down the stairs with a hot coffee in her hand as the other one was occupied by a walking stick.

Putting the newspaper down to a certain level to meet the old woman's gaze, it cannot be avoided that her vision last night was remembered. "What should we do now?"

"About what?" Bruno's yawning voice was heard from the other end of the room where another plight of stairs was located. He walked to the two women, scratching his long unkempt hair.

"My death?" scoffed Lorelei, getting her mug and finishing all the coffee's remains in one gulp. What should they do, really? "Will you prevent me from dying early?"

Both Agatha and Bruno almost chocked to their own breathing. They never imagined the woman to be so… open and frank about the issue—Agatha's vision. Bruno's sleepy expression suddenly turned to a very serious one. Lorelei's death. They shouldn't be even thinking about such an idea.

"What do you want to do?" Agatha asked back, her tone worrying.

Lorelei put the newspaper infront of her face. What does she want to do? Be problematic? Tell everyone that she loves them before her time comes?

"I just want to live."

**2:30 pm, in the middle of the Elite Four's duties.**

Lorelei stood motionless, in the middle of the icebound room. The four pillars of pure ice stood glorious on the four corners of the room, reflecting exactly what was infront of them. The room's temperature dropped down to 4°C and Lorelei had to where a thick jacket to cope up with the coldness. It was her stadium, her territory; it was where here Ice-type Pokémon perform the best. She willingly waits for a trainer, for someone to battle.

Finally, with all the waiting, the glass door slides to the side and reveals a figure of a trainer. Lorelei waited for the trainer to come to her and challenge her. Revealing a guy's figure, the trainer gallantly walked to the Ice Queen.

Lorelei eyed him coldly, studying him. The guy stood an inch above her, dark blue hair covering his forehead with spikes, drowsy emerald green eyes, noble stance, and a warm smile of his face showing his perfect set of pearly whites to her. He looked stunning, with that warm aura all around him even in the coldest of the rooms. He looked like he was in a 30°C room not in some arctic place like the very room.

"Welcome to Pokémon League! I am Lorelei of the Elite Four!" She greeted, not even showing a fervent expression. She reached for a Pokéball, "No one can best me when it comes to icy Pokémon! Freezing moves are powerful! You Pokémon will be at my mercy when they are frozen solid! Hahaha! Are you ready?"

The guy nodded slowly, his daunting but lethargic eyes made him look like he was about to sleep anytime. His eyes opened fullest to the half-lids, it was normal for him. He waited for the Elite Four member to present her first Pokémon.

"Dewgong, I choose you!" Lorelei threw a Pokéball infront of her and the evolved form of Seel came out. The temperature inside the battlefield became a lot colder.

The challenger rolled a Pokéball cautiously on the floor, it rolled infront of Dewgong. The Pokéball opened, and a life-sized energetic white slim gorilla started to jump up and down. It had two long thick claws on each of its two hands and two thick brown lines behind his perfect white fur. "Vigoroth, go."

_A foreign Pokémon?_ Lorelei's eyes narrowed. "Dewgong, use Aurora Beam!"

Dewgong opened its mouth and colorful cold rays went out of its mouth, aimed at Vigoroth, who was energetically jumping up and down of excitement. The challenger nodded slowly, his eyes looked liked closing. He mumbled out of his cold breath, fogging his every word, "Vigoroth, Screech then Double Kick."

The monkey screeched so loud that Dewgong lost his control over its Aurora Beam. It made an opening for Vigoroth, which jumped in mid-air so high that it almost reached the ceiling. Raising its powerful foot in mid-air, it came crushing down the bewildered Ice-type Pokémon, kicking twice with its strong foot. Dewgong, at once, fainted.

Lorelei grounded her teeth as she aimed a Pokéball at her fainted Pokémon. Odd, she thought. Nobody had ever knocked her Dewgong out by a Double Kick.

"Tell me," she glared at him sternly, behind his powerful Vigoroth who was staring, too, at her. She knew he was an outsider from Sinnoh or Hoenn, or maybe from some other country. "Who are you?"

"My aim wasn't really to be the greatest trainer," the guy spoke, his voice passive. "I beat all gyms in haste to reach you, Lorelei. I suppose Agatha has told you about your early death."

_How… How did this guy know about Agatha's visions?_

"You haven't answered my question yet." Lorelei deadpanned.

The challenger withdrew his Pokémon and hesitated to talk for a second. But, thinking about the woman's safety, he locked eyes with her,

"Team Rocket wants you dead."

_--_

_**Author's notes: **_Yaho~ how did this guy know about the vision? Is he telling the truth? Reviews will be appreciated! x]


	3. Chapter 3: Help from a Stranger

**Chapter 3: Help from a Stranger**

"What?" asked Lorelei, complete astonishment in her voice. _Team Rocket is after her? Why?_ With the mysterious man infront of her, what can she do? "What do you know?"

The guy, clad in an open royal blue jacket with a plain white shirt inside and jeans, closed his heavy eyelids for a moment and took a deep breath. This is going to be harder than he thought—announcing the death of the woman in front of him. It wasn't his fault that his Misdreavus had sensed the vision and linked its mind with Agatha's last night. It wasn't his job either, to warn people about death visions, but what can he do? He doesn't want anyone to die, let alone, Lorelei.

"My Pokémon had the same vision as Agatha. Fortunately, it also saw read the minds of some Team Rocket punks when they fought with me on my way here. They're going to get back at you for thrashing them in Icefall Cave on Four Island." he spoke, rather, calmly. "They're going to ambush this whole building tomorrow and leave nothing but ashes. Please tell everyone in this building to leave at once."

With that, the challenger sighed and turned his back on her, and started walking back to the entrance to withdraw. Well, all's done is done. He warned the victim, and told her to do safety precautions. There shouldn't be any problem, right?

"Wait!" Lorelei called him, her voice unstable. It was the right time, to ask, and to know, all the happenings. The guy turned a fraction of his head. She used this as a cue to ask, "You told me your Pokémon saw the future, tell me, I need to know. Will I die sooner?"

WRONG.

The stranger blinked—is Lorelei going to die soon? He admits that he saw the same vision of Agatha through Misdreavus, but it was only a short period of time. Only a fast run-through of images flashed in his mind last night. What this woman's asking is for certain.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked back, tapping his left foot slowly on the ice-tiled floor. He turned back fully now, meeting the woman's gaze. She was bewildered, confused, and she needed answers. "If I tell you that you will die tomorrow, will that make any difference?"

Lorelei grounded her teeth. She doesn't want to die. She wants to discover the secrets of humanity with her Pokémon; it is not just a matter of chance. She wants to experience the fullness of life. "I want to know so that I can spend the last of my days with happiness and acceptance."

The guy cannot help but smile. And that warm smile became a light chuckle. This woman, he thought, isn't like the others. Other people would definitely say that they will apologize for all the sins that they have done to others and spend the last of their days with the people they love, who appreciate them as much as they do. But this certain woman, she wants to accept death as happy as she can.

"It makes no difference." His chuckle minimized to his warmest smile. Maybe, this woman, he thought, maybe she can defy destiny's manipulation after all. He started to walk slowly back to the entrance. "You should put in your mind that you'll die the next day so that you'll face everyday with happiness and acceptance."

_Unbelievable_… Lorelei froze in her place, a sweat dropping from her forehead contrast to the coldness of the room. Her heart was beating so wild and hard on her chest, so as her dried throat. Team Rocket will have a 'surprise attack' tomorrow, and it isn't a surprise anymore thanks to the mysterious guy. Still, he did not tell her that she's going to die anytime soon. But, she felt an assurance in her heart; it was great to accept help from a stranger who warned her from danger.

"What's your name?" she called out.

The guy did not stop from walking until the automatic glass doors opened for him. He sighed. "We'll meet again, don't worry about my name. Go and tell the others about the turmoil tomorrow."

And with that, he stepped out the front door, then outside the building, ignoring the comments from the bystanders that he lost. He flew using his Pokémon, to some unknown place.

When he was completely gone, Lorelei fixed her glasses and cleared her throat nervously. What was she going to tell the other Elite Four members? Tell them that someone told her that this building will be bombarded tomorrow? Tell them that some guy warned her about dangers? She doesn't know herself. But she will try to explain her best. With that thought, she started to walk briskly to the other door which led to Agatha's.

"Oh—" the old woman chuckled as she saw the lady walking towards her. "I thought a challenger had beaten you, why did you bother to go here, dear?"

Lorelei gulped. What will she say? With a grim line set on her thin lips, she walked seriously to the old hag, not losing her model-like stance. Although inside that serious aristocratic face, she was really, really, worrying… about the future—and her death.

"The whole Indigo Plateau's going to be bombed by Team Rocket tomorrow." she started speaking, her voice as serious as it can be, although she was almost whispering. Looking at Agatha's inquisitive expression, she continued, "I… I don't know how to tell you this, but some guy's Pokémon had premonition that this will be bombarded tomorrow. He told me to tell all of you to leave this building at once."

Agatha laughed, like a witch. Lorelei was becoming nervous. What if they didn't believe a word she said? She was afraid of this in the first place—that maybe they would think that the great Lorelei's insane. Her throat was starting to absorb sawdust. They should believe her! Their own lives are at stake!

"Agatha, I'm telling the truth!"

"Don't worry, dear. I believe every word you say," The laughing woman minimized to a crooked smile. She looked up at the younger woman, who seems to be exasperated. Agatha nodded, "I saw him as a part of my vision last night. Now tell me, does he have green eyes?"

"…Well… I—yes…" sighed Lorelei..

Agatha nodded, "He's the one, alright. I already told the others last night about my visions on him, but you were already asleep that time. Anyways, come, let us depart this place."

Lorelei blinked a couple of times before she absorbed what the old woman had said. _The guy was a part of her visions last night? Why did she ever go to sleep earlier than the others in the first place? She must've known about him already by now._

As she followed Agatha, Lorelei could not simply forget the man's words which truly amazed her.

"_You should put in your mind that you'll die the next day so that you'll face everyday with happiness and acceptance._

Then she heard it, her heart, beating the same strong beat again that she felt earlier…

--

_**Author's notes:**_ Whew^^ It was hard thinking the dialogues, but it was really worth it. Hyuu~ I was daydreaming of this while I'm in class a week ago. (Don't tell anyone!) Keep on reviewing please! x]


	4. Chapter 4: First Wave

**Chapter 4: First Wave**

Lorelei ignored her heart_. There is no time for childish crushes and infatuations_. She walked, silently with Agatha to the lobby. With the automated glass door sliding open, before them, Lorelei saw Bruno and Lance, with all of the staff members of the Indigo League holding their huge traveling bags. Bruno was sitting on the lounge chair again while Lance was sitting on his own stroller bag while everybody else was standing, tensed and nervous.

"I've packed your things ahead of time." said Agatha, as she led the way to the mass of people waiting for them. Lorelei nodded as she saw her burgundy bag and her other luggage bags beside Lance's.

Everyone's attention was on the two as they made it all the way through the crowd. Bruno stood up and wasted no time. He checked on everyone to see if they were complete, and yes, they were all in the right number. Raising a hand to gather their attention, he spoke in the midst of the huge number of people,

"As part of the Elite Four, I will now allow everyone to go back to each of your own houses for the time being. We have declared an emergency situation as the police have seen a number of explosive devices in the basement of this very building when we told them to check the safety here. We do not know yet where the other bombs are, but for now, we would like to send everyone home first before anything happens."

--

Lorelei sat on her bed, _her own bed_. Looking outside her windows, she saw a medium-sized waterfall where she used to take a bath when she still was a kid. She clung to the small Cloyster doll in her hands. How she missed this place, Four Island of the Sevii Islands. Lance flew her home with his Dragonite. It would be very troublesome to let Lorelei wait for another fifteen hours just to wait for SS Anne to dock on the nearest port when you can fly for half an hour. After that, Lance went home himself to Blackthorn City in Johto.

A small but noticeable frown was set across Lorelei's elegant face as she squeezed the Closter doll. Things are going worse.

Earlier this day, the other Elite Four members had called the police to investigate the building for anything suspicious secretly. They found more than a dozen bombs in the basement and had to detonate it fast. Because of that, the Elite Four were forced to stop accepting challenges and to close the building at once. But then again, one last challenger who seemed to have made it inside through the windows warned Lorelei about her death. With the evidence of the bombs, Agatha's vision and the stranger's warnings, the Elite Four has all the reason to call it an emergency situation. They sent home all the employees to their respective houses, promising that they will get their jobs back as soon as everything is back to normal.

Lorelei clutched the doll with force, how she hated the situation! Everyone's lifestyle patterns had to be ruined because of her, and her death threats. It wasn't a simple thing. When the vision was announced, everything changed. Even though it wasn't a big change, it altered everyone's living.

The employees weren't given their paychecks yet, who knows when the Indigo League will call them for their jobs?

The Elite Four were like a family now, and what would the others feel about this temporary separation?

The Elite Four in other regions, when they knew about the starting chaos in Kanto, they will surely be troubled. They will call, and ask if they need any help, up to what point will they reaching offering help to them?

The trainers who have trained their Pokémon to their best shape in hopes of beating the Elite Four and being a champion, what will happen to them when the news that the Indigo League will be temporarily closed without a certain date when to reopen again?

The stranger, he said he had beaten all gyms hurriedly just to reach her. He wasted his own personal time just to warn her about her death! And to think, he IS a complete stranger to her, why did he take much effort in warning her?

The entire Kanto region and the others as well, what would the people think if they had known that Team Rocket wants to kill her? They would surely do something for their precious Elite Four member, protest, rally, riot in the streets, who knows?

And Lorelei herself, she is now stuck in a mass of black whirl with her thoughts thinking of how she had changed people's normal lives. It was because of Agatha's stupid vision. If it wasn't for that, everything would be okay. Lorelei affected the lives of many people. It wasn't about Agatha's stupid vision after all; it was because of her, because of Lorelei that everything went out off balance.

What did Lorelei do in the first place? She knew she had never done anything too heavy to punish her like this. Did she kill a mass of people in her previous existence and destiny is coming back at her in ten folds? A death threat, maybe it was just a threat from the vision. But that simple threat affected everyone, it turned their lives to a different rotation, it made their lives complicated.

Unable to sustain the growing anger within herself, Lorelei threw the Cloyster doll furiously on the solid hard wall. The poor doll slid slowly to the floor, making a 'poof' sound as it reached the ground. It was Lorelei's first time to throw her beloved doll to the wall. She gritted her teeth.

Agatha's vision was only last night and the next day, Lorelei was at her hometown, Four Island. So little time, yet so many things had happened. The stranger warning her about her death, the Indigo League being closed, employees being out of their jobs, the police finding out bombs in the building, the Kanto region knowing about the emergency situation, the other regional Elite Four offering help to them, and the bombing of the whole Kanto Indigo League building tomorrow.

Lorelei blamed herself. If she had been much careful, if she had done better in her life, this would never have happened. She hoped that one day, even for just a day, that things would be back to normal.

She covered her troubled face in her hands, as the first wave of sad tears found its way through her eyes.

_Normal? Things would never be normal again._

--

_**Author's notes:**_ Aww man, why do I really feel guilty about this chapter?!!! But, hey, Lorelei has still human emotions, right? She cried!!! Yay! (Well, not that I wanted to see her cry!) I wrote this chapter to prove that she has, somehow, those hidden emotions behind her cold personality. It makes me wanna cry with her, though. T.T **throws a small teddy bear hard on the wall** Please review!


	5. Chapter 5: Emergency

**Chapter 5: Emergency**

"Miss Lorelei, a call for you!" a voice echoed from the living room of Lorelei's small house on Four Island, waking her sleeping figure up.

Oh.

Lorelei blinked her eyes hard. Her head was spinning, and her eyes felt swollen. With her head resting on her folded arms, the greeting of the morning sun on her eyes, she realized that she fell asleep. She looked around—she had fallen asleep on the bed while sitting. It was supposed to be a great day, with the sun from her clear curtain windows beaming down on her and the faint soft sound of the Icefall Falls outside made her sigh with contentment. Stretching her arms, she remembered the tears that fell on her cheeks last night.

Since when did she care other people's lives? When did she become aware of other's feelings towards her? She's about to die, why does she care about their opinions?

She almost forgot. She's going to die in just a matter of days. Lorelei smirked, shaking her head to the side slowly. Death, it doesn't sound much to her now. She's starting to accept the fact that one of these days; she'll just curl up like a ball and leave everyone in their wake. One of these days, she's going to leave everyone and turn into nothingness.

_And… And until that day comes, until she dies, she's going to live like she never knew about that vision._

Nodding, she went to the living room. Dismissing the old maid who was the temporary caretaker of the house when she was away, Lorelei sat on the cozy office chair beside the drawer and pressed the speaker on her ear,

"Hello?"

No response.

--

"Hello?" It was Lorelei of the Elite Four at the other end of the line. "May I know who is calling?"

Winona cuddled closer on the sofa and nudged her brother on the ribs, her ear pressed on the opposite side of the line. She can hear the other woman on the other end so clear that she thought she was the one talking to her. Hitting her brother's abs with her elbow, her whisper shook him out of his blank state, "Say something!"

"What?" He blinked, covering the speaker to attend to his sister.

Winona nudged him harder on the ribs. Come on. Can this guy be any normal?! "Say something, anything! Just don't let her hung up on you!"

"Hello?" Lorelei's confused voice reached his ears. Annoyance was now clear in her voice, and it was very obvious. Is this another prank call? "If no one's going to answer after three seconds I'll hang up."

Vincent gulped hard. What's he going to say, huh? It was his sister's fault that he dialed Lorelei's number, not him! He coughed in his fist and breathed,

"Hey… …Lorelei?"

Winona sighed. At least, the 'Hey' part went pretty cool. She stood up and took a deep breath. Sighing again, she looked back at the guy who was on the phone. She chuckled a bit. Her older brother Vincent, he was one of the most known people in Hoenn. The cool Vincent, the great Vincent, the perfect Pokémon trainer slash model Vincent, his name was always in the streets.

Everyone knows him…

"Who is this?" asked Lorelei.

…But unfortunately, all his fame and name stayed in Hoenn and in Hoenn alone.

Vincent looked at his younger sister with his drowsy warm emerald eyes. He has dark blue hair while she has lavender, he has green eyes while she has light indigo, he dresses formally even in casual occasions while she wants to look like one of those magnificent flying birds in the sky; who would have thought that these two were siblings? He sighed, as Winona's eyes just rolled.

What now?

"Vincent…"

At the other end of the phone, Lorelei was already standing up from her office chair. Who the hell is Vincent? Why does he know her private number in Four Island? But, if she presses her ear closer to the speaker, his voice was sounding all too familiar. Anyway, even though the voice was familiar, she could not help but to feel anxious of this prank caller. After a few seconds of thinking who the caller is, she grounded her teeth silently,

"I don't know anyone by the name of Vincent. I don't know who you are," she breathed; her head was starting to boil out of anger. Of all things, what she hated most was these prank calls. "So I don't have any responsibility in answering any of your insane air-headed foolish gags _Vincent_," she stressed on his name, fuming. After no one seemed to respond, she breathed, "Thank you, and goodbye."

Beep.

--

Beep.

Vincent threw his head upwards after he put the receiver on its cradle. He sighed, closing his heavy eyelids. The back of his head resting on the soft board of the sofa, he ran his hand through his dark blue hair. Great, just great; after all the nervousness he went through in dialing the number of that unyielding Elite Four member, after the fast thinking that he forced himself into, after the trouble of being compulsorily talking to that snobbish woman,

"She hung up on me," He muttered, sighing, his eyes still closed. This is too troublesome. He has a photo shoot at 10 am and a taping for a Grass Pokémon fertilizer in the afternoon; his skin should be perfectly clean, not wrinkly, like now, as he became too troubled in just hearing that voice on the phone. "I guess my voice was too hoarse, don't you think so?"

After a couple of minutes of silence, he opened his still drowsy eyes and scanned the high tree house—a house on Fortree City, just above the gym.

"Winona?"

Vincent sighed. First that unyielding woman on the phone hung up on him, and then his sister left him alone in her house without saying anything. Can things get any worse?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was his PokéNav, ringing and vibrating at the same time inside the pockets of his black slacks. Wondering who is calling at this early hour of the day, he immediately dug his pockets and pressed the receiver on his ear,

"H—"

A steel hard voice interrupted him, "Vincent, this is Steven Stone, we need assistance quick. Are you not busy at this time?"

"… Why?"

Steven's throat was drying out of nervousness. He gripped his PokéNav, as the building infront of him crumpled like burnt metal. His mouth was hanging open, as the turmoil infront of him unveiled itself to him. Slowly by slowly, as if all happened in slow motion, nearly a hundred floors were tossed and tumbled. For a second it looked like huge demolition crews were doing their job, but, no,

A loud explosion was then heard from the other end of the line, followed by several aftershocks of explosions. The sound was too craggy that Vincent had to distance his ear from the receiver. When the loud noise was gone too soon, he can only ask for the other end of the line to speak up.

"Steven? Are you still there? Steven?"

"Vincent, the Kanto Indigo League has been bombed!"

--

_**Author's notes:**_Yea, I guess you all have those ingenious little guesses of yours. I created Vincent, BTW. . Ugh, people, I'm running out of ideas! SOS! PM me if you have any suggestions on how I will continue the chapters; my mind is really going blank! T.T. Anyways, please review so that I can improve my work^^ Ja~


	6. Chapter 6: The Frozen Sun

**Chapter 6: The Frozen Sun **

Lorelei rummaged through her stack of clothes in her drawer, her eyeglasses hastily tucked between her upper and lower teeth. After fixing herself, she put on her heels and grabbed a piece of bread only to bite it as big as she can. She then gulped a large portion of her creamed coffee, as she tip-toed to fix her heels properly. She waved immediately to the old caretaker of her house and ran through the front door. An orange-haired cape wearing guy with a large Dragonite came into her view.

"Let's go." said Lance, as he assisted Lorelei on top of Dragonite.

The lady nodded, blinking a few times before both of them soared into the open sky of the Sevii Islands. Lance called her a while ago that the bombing had taken place already, just after she had received that pesky prank call from a voice of an acting cool guy or somewhat. A drop of sweat fell from her forehead as she gripped Lance's shoulders tighter. She imaged the large, colossal trademark of the Elite Four, the Kanto Indigo League, falling over huge debris.

"Lorelei," asked Lance, as his head turned a fraction to meet her troubled view. With the wind almost splattering across their faces like water, it was difficult to move. Dragonite was flying at its fastest speed and yet, Lance was urging the Pokémon to go a little but faster. "Are you alright?"

Lorelei gulped. At this rate, at this speed, by the time they reach the Indigo Plateau, the place will be in ashes now. "I'm fine."

--

Everyone was there, the Kanto Elite Four as well as the Hoenn Elite Four. Unfortunately, the Sinnoh Elites weren't able to go as they were experiencing massive blackout and had lost contact. The place was a mess; dust was everywhere that everyone had to wear protective masks that covered their noses and their mouths. Lorelei's hunch was right, the building that towered a hundred and one floors were wrecked completely, leaving only the first ten floors still standing alive. A mass of dirty gray fog covered the area, as well as the smoke coming from other parts of the destroyed building.

Bruno's Machamp was helping in getting the huge debris to clear the view. Drake, of the Hoenn Elite Four, was letting his dragon Pokémon help the investigators in digging the area. A horde of Officer Jennys were there, investigating the area together with their Growlithes. The other Elite Four members were discussing private matters within themselves when Lance and Lorelei had arrived. All of them have troubled faces, their eyebrows looking like thick pencil lines and their frowning mouths and crossing arms were getting the better of them.

Lance first jumped off Dragonite and then he aided Lorelei in getting down. She dusted herself, and adjusted her view to the mass of chaos infront of her. This isn't the home that she knew. This isn't the classy building that she loved to see everyday. After being barely able to absorb the scenery infront of her, her eyes flew to the group of Elite Four members who were talking among themselves. Noticing the two, it was Glacia, the other Ice-type Elite Four member who ran up to Lorelei and gave her a light hug.

"What happened?" asked Lorelei, when they parted. Her eyes moved up and down on the shattered building that she had called home since she was eleven.

"More than fifty bombs had exploded a while ago," the blonde replied, rubbing her snow white face off any dirt from the mess. She looked back at the group of Elites who where staring at them. Glacia placed both of her hands on both of her shoulders and with a troubled look on her face, she asked, "Are you alright?"

Lorelei nodded at once and blinked. "Yes, I'm fine. You really don't have to come here personally, we can handle things now."

"No, you can't." Steven Stone's voice came from the other side of the wrecked building. He came out, dusting himself together with a shiny aquamarine Metagross carrying a large block of stone. "We have to assist you. Four people aren't enough for a trouble as big as this. Team Rocket is quite serious this time, you know."

Lorelei smiled faintly upon seeing her long time friend. She gave him a small hug and patted his back, "We appreciate the offer, Steven."

Bruno's voice boomed from the ashes, "Anyone wants to help us digging?"

--

Vincent sat on a stool, holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand. He was wearing only a thin loose plain white shirt that hung from his shoulders and his black slacks, it would be very troublesome if he will wear his clothes now, as he and his Pokémon helped in cleaning up the large mess in the building. He ran his free hand through his hair, great. He missed his photo shoot and now he's going to miss the taping.

This is too troublesome as he thought. Why, why would be a supermodel like him be in this chaos? Why was he helping in cleaning up the huge mess that the bombing had caused? Why him? Why Vincent? There are a lot of trainers out there, why is he here, and doing the dirty job? Why?!

Now, as he bored himself over the heavy job of cleaning the hundred-floor wrecked building together with other construction crew members, it cannot be avoided that once in a while, a person asks him the same question,

"Can you sign my shirt? You're Vincent, right?"

"No," said Vincent, his voice turning bitter, as threw the empty Styrofoam cup in the nearby trash bin. This is one of the disadvantages of being popular, everyone wants you. He turned to the teenage boy at his side, which was also assisting the others in cleaning up this mess. "Hey, aren't you a little young to be helping us?"

The boy, with wise white hair and light green and black outfit, shrugged his head, "Steven says everyone can help, so I went here."

"Really…" muttered Vincent, unbelieving. Anyways, he disregarded the boy and pointed his Vigoroth to a certain spot where the glass windows were broken. "Clean that up, Vigoroth."

"So you won't sign my shirt?" asked the boy, his light green eyes glued to the guy at his side.

Vincent sighed; another kid, another autograph. He ran his hand through his glossy hair and turned to the boy next to him, "What's your name?"

"My name's Brendan, I'm from Littleroot Town of Hoenn. We're live in the same country, that's why when I saw you here I immediately volunteered to help so that I can ask for your autograph." the boy introduced himself, taking a marker from his pocket. He stretched the light green part of his shirt and gave Vincent the marker, "So… um… can you sign my shirt please?"

"You came from Hoenn?" asked Vincent, opening the marker by taking the cap off. Brendan nodded. Vincent signed on the back part of the boy's shirt. "The next time we meet, I'll give you something special, okay?"

Brendan nodded, happiness clearly shown on the childish smile on his face. After that, he ran outside the area of the destroyed building. Vincent shook his head slowly, tsk, kids. He looked around and saw the group of Elite Four members. However, he turned quickly as he heard Glacia's voice,

"Lorelei!"

"Phoebe, it's nice to see you again." greeted Lorelei, as she saw the younger braided-haired lady with her Banette beside her.

"You too, Lorelei." said Phoebe. The two of them then sat on two hard stools which were scattered around the resting area. They were in the cottage where the workers rest when they were tired. It had open windows, so everyone can see the cleaning outside. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine." answered Lorelei, as her eyes roamed the area. There was Sidney and Glacia at the other corner of the room, talking. There were also three big burly men who were resting as they sat on a tool, holding glasses of water. Her eyes then flew to that familiar face on the opposite side of the room. It was guy talking to a white haired kid. It was a guy that she swore she had seen before. That ocean-deep hair, those dark emerald eyes, that undaunted stance; Lorelei realized it was the guy who warned her about her death. Out of pure curiosity, she asked Phoebe, "That guy over there, he doesn't look like any of those workers, who's he?"

Phoebe's eyes widened as she turned to the direction Lorelei was pointing. Phoebe gaped, and eventually she covered her mouth to stifle a gasp, "I-It's—it's V-Vincent!"

"Vincent?" asked Lorelei, her tone unbelieving. _That prank caller Vincent?_

"You don't know him??" Phoebe asked back, shocked. Lorelei shook her head in disagreement. Phoebe breathed deeply, hiding the flush in her cheeks.

Lorelei narrowed her shady blue eyes to observe the same man that helped her a day ago. His appearance was getting a little clear now, not unlike when they were in the coldest of the rooms. He has that silky smooth skin that one can easily distinguish from afar; no blemishes, no scars. As if he knew that he was the subject being talked about, Vincent ran his hand through his soft blue hair, smiling at the boy infront of him. Even with that thin white shirt, his lean muscles were clear as he signed the back of the kid for an autograph.

"He's a supermodel in Hoenn, one of the greatest trainers. He's The Pride of Fallarbor Town, Vincent." said Phoebe, keeping her voice low enough to hide the excitement growing in her. Both of them were staring unconsciously at him now. Phoebe made a giggle. "With a total of 73 fan clubs mostly in Hoenn, he's the most attractive guy I've ever seen. I really love his smile, you know, it makes my heart burn."

Lorelei's eyebrows perked up. _So it was him, the guy who warned her and that prank caller, it was Vincent_. Hell, who would've thought that he was one of the best in Hoenn. But then again, she was sure that she heard that Fallarbor Town somewhere, "Fallarbor Town?"

Phoebe nodded her head gladly. "Oh yes, that's Vincent's hometown. It's a place near volcanoes, so ashes cover up the sun; it's so cold there. That place rarely receives enough sunlight so the plants there are those that thrive on volcanic ashes. And also because of that, Vincent is The Frozen Sun of Fallarbor. Cool, right?"

"You know a lot about him." mumbled Lorelei. It was not of a big issue, who cares if he already met her face to face? She does not care about him in a big way, really, unlike Phoebe who was completely smitten over him. It's enough that she knows his name and his background and maybe, next time he calls her, she may not hang up on him. Even then, both hers and Phoebe's eyes were still glued to him, as if he's a studying sample of Pokémon.

From somewhere, Glacia's icy voice reached their ears, "Lorelei!"

All of those in the cottage turned their eyes to both Lorelei and Phoebe as Glacia made her way through them.

And then, Lorelei swore to herself that she saw Vincent smiling at her.

--

_**Author's notes:**_ At last! Vincent and Lorelei's paths crossed again! Mwahahahahahahahah! Review please!


	7. Chapter 7: Freedom

**Chapter 7: Freedom**

"_Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine."_

"_Are you sure you're fine?"_

"_Yes, I'm positive."_

"_Lorelei, are you okay?"_

"_I said I'm FINE!"_

--

_Ever since I was a child, I knew I was not going to grow up like everybody else does. From the start, I already sensed my cold insensitive heart. My mom would always tell me to play with other kids in the neighborhood, I simply would nod but later on, I will be on my bed, hugging my Pokémon dolls. 'No one is the same as my age here anyway.' I would always reason out. It was true; Four Island is like an island of old women. If it was me, I would call it Old People's Island. _

"I was wondering," Glacia bit her lower lip, as she faced me and Phoebe inside the cottage. Now, people were back to their duties, leaving the three of us alone. "Why are we cleaning this place anyway? We should leave this job to people who are paid to clean bombed buildings. We should be after Team Rocket right now, right? They could not simply bomb the building without being punished, right?"

_I became interested in Ice-type Pokémon when I was still four. My mom showed me a cute baby Seel and immediately, I sought comfort in it. It was one of the most interesting things I have experienced, when I took care of a Pokémon. It was a living thing, I knew, and everytime it shows responses to the soft strokes that I gave it, the Seel would close its eyes and cuddle closer to me like a baby._

"Now that you said that, it was a thought worth thinking about." said Phoebe. I merely watched the two Hoenn Elites talking while I sat on the hard stool. Then, both ladies turned to me, their eyes striking inside my soul, "What do you think should we be doing right now?"

_It was then I realized what things fascinate me—the simplicity of life. We alone can devalue gold and throw our fame and fortune away; we will still be normal human beings. Living beings, Pokémon and humans, a race that I was not too familiar with, their irrational instincts and radical impulses have always baffled me. Whenever I pinch my baby Seel so hard, it would squeal in pain. And whenever I run my fingers over its thick white fur, it would shiver in excitement, asking for more._

"We can not chase after Team Rocket because we have no lead. All we can do now is stay here and clean the area." I said. Things ran over my complex brain, and suddenly, I thought of my death. I smiled, looking at the two confused trainers whom I was talking to. The fates are so cruel to me. "Glacia, do you know a nice restaurant somewhere here? I'm famished."

_I grew up and realized my goal in life—it was to discover the deepest mystery of my life. I believe that every living soul lives, not knowing why, yet seeming to divine a purpose. It was everyone's duty, to find the real meaning of life in their own way. But it seems that I alone knew that mission we are bound to do. People are blinded by fortune and are shrouded by a mist of false belief. With the company of the little number of Pokémon I possess, I started my mission which I believe will lead me to the path of discovery._

"Oh, yes, of course! Come," Glacia, with Phoebe trailing behind her, went out of the cottage. I followed, slowly walking. This is my first time in Hoenn, and I would like to see the beauty of this region. As I pushed the light wooden door, streaks of the afternoon sun hit my prying eyes. Stepping out of the cottage, and with the faint smile of the daylight outlined by the distorted thin clouds on the horizon, I was partially shocked as the view of huge debris and the wrecked building that contrasted the beauty that I was experiencing. Nevertheless, Glacia and Phoebe were standing there, waiting for me. Glacia hooked her arm just below my elbow and urged me forward, "I know a very nice restaurant not far away."

_During my journey, I met Pryce, the cold-hearted man whose Pokémon was lost in the icy caves. When I looked in his eyes, I saw the same eyes whenever I glance at the mirror. His eyes were hungry for discovery, his eyes were like mine. I knew that we were on the same level, even though he was a full grown man while I was a young elementary girl. I knew that he, too, was searching for the meaning of life. However, as he took me under his wing, I learned the hard cold reality. We need to be as cold as ice, as hard as a diamond, and as subtle as we can be to know our purpose in life._

In a matter of minutes, we were soaring beneath the dark clouds of the night sky. Lance lent us his Dragonite, the one which I was fond of riding. The Pokémon was very familiar with the three of us as Glacia sat on the front, her hands encircling the slender round neck, Phoebe was infront of me and behind of Glacia, her hands around the other woman's waist. And I, who was at the rear end of Dragonite, have my hands hooking on Phoebe's bare shoulders as the winds splashed hot humid air on our exposed faces.

_As years passed by, and with the aid of my mentor Pryce, I learned the fine tricks of the trade. My Pokémon became stronger and my skills and knowledge as a Pokémon trainer deepened, and I became a mature young lady. And then, one day changed my whole life. While Pryce was scolding me for not properly commanding my Pokémon, an old woman barged in. It was Agatha. With Pryce's full consent, I went with Agatha to the Pokémon League. She told me that I was waiting in line, a fine golden line that lead to being Elite. I was still eleven back then, yet my persona was different from the other children's bubbly happy ones. That was the point in my life when I realized that I, too, like Pryce, have become as cold as ice._

"We're here!" exclaimed Glacia, as she pulled Dragonite into a halt infront of a large expensive looking restaurant in the midst of a festive town. I looked around when I got down of Dragonite. There was a Pokémon tent at the other side of the store a big museum beside it. But even though my head was searching for more introductions of the foreign place, it was dark, and I could not see more. Only the decorative lights of the restaurant infront of me were occupying my attention. The glass windows showed the fancy costumers dining in, and I knew this bistro isn't just for strangers. A man, wearing a black tuxedo, opened the exclusive door for us, "Welcome, members of the Elite Four Kanto and Hoenn region. I will show your table."

_As I grew up, the part of me that was different did not vanish. Up to this very day, I am as cold as ice and as hard as a thick iceberg, suspended in the sea of innovation. And as I continue my search for the real meaning and purpose of my life, I know that even though how hard I try to change that trait, that I am insensitive and intricate, I will always be the cold Lorelei that Pryce has carved under his frozen soul. Sometimes, I want to break out of this hard shell. Sometimes, I wondered what life is if I tried to live like everyone else, not caring about the answer to my question of life. Sometimes, I want to be free._

"How did you know that we were coming?" Phoebe asked, when she passed by the gentleman at the door. The man, as courteous as he is, bowed lowly, and pointed his hand to the table on his right. I turned my head to the long elegant rectangular table with three vacant chairs and saw the familiar faces of Agatha, Bruno, Lance and Steven. Drake and Sidney of the Hoenn Elite was also there, an empty seat between them. As Glacia, Phoebe and I walked towards the long table, my eyes could not stop searching. At the other end of the table, I saw Vincent in a stylish black tuxedo below a pure white necktie. Of all the people who are differently alike, their faces were bearing the same problematic expression that stirred a thought in me. My mind could not help but think that we are going to talk about some important matters.

_To flow like water and to be as cold as ice, that is the first thing that I remember when I think of my former mentor. It hurts me to know that I am living in a world of lies. I put up my serious insensitive expression whenever people are around but when I am alone, I feel like a child locked behind bars and ridden of humanly emotions. I want to cry. I want to laugh. I want to live without worrying what will happen tomorrow. I want to be free. I want to be free. I want to be free, can't you see?_

I sat silently, on Steven's right and Lance's left. All eyes were on me, glaring, like a group of angry mutilated beings who only wanted to protect their offspring. Once everyone was seated, I felt as if we own the restaurant, the costumers were leaving. We were alone by ourselves, the Kanto and Hoenn Elites, and Steven and Vincent, the person who I only see as a shadow.

"Lorelei, Agatha has told us everything." said Drake, his buccaneer face hiding deep dark shadows. "…Everything…" you mean the bombings? Team Rocket? Vincent's warnings? My death? I don't want people worrying about me. They should take care of their lives more than interfering with others.

"I'm fine." I briefly smiled, and for a fraction of a second, my features became solemn again. "Everything's alright."

Vincent's dark emerald's looked black to me now, as his drowsy eyes fell on mine. Slowly, he shook his head, his fine glossy hair swaying lightly. He frowned at for the first time, his light features becoming a lot shadowy than the usual.

"Nothing's alright… Lorelei."

_Please. I beg of you. Please free me of this cage. Let me out of the same cage where I desired to put myself into. Let me be free me of the bindings that was built because of my own selfish doings. Give me back my lost freedom, so that I can find the true meaning of life. Please break my hard outer shell. Please give me freedom to feel human emotions. Please melt my frozen heart. Please… Somebody… Anybody… Help me._

_Behind my smile is a hurting heart, behind my face I'm falling apart. Look closely at me and you will see… the person I am isn't me… _

--

_**Author's notes**_**: **Yea~! I REALLY love this chapter! Sorry for the sudden change of writing style, this 14 yr. old author just got possessed by Lorelei's soul. Hahaha, kidding. But really, I felt possessed when I was writing this. Anyway, chapters will be a wee bit longer after this one. Thanks for the reviews! Keep reviewing please! And stay tuned, of course. x] Hyuu~!


	8. Chapter 8: Just another Doll

**Chapter 8: Just another Doll**

"Under certain circumstances, we could have just let this incident pass." said Steven, with his firm serious voice. "I, myself, do not believe in visions, premonitions and such. Disregarding that matter, the Kanto Indigo League building has been bombed, and we cannot further let this disturbing problem waltz right infront of us."

"Indeed," nodded Bruno, his chin resting at the back of his hands and his burly face looking very perplexed. "We would have not issued an emergency situation if the building wasn't bombed at all. Good thing we have let the employees go back to their houses together with their belongings."

Sidney, the known punk in their group, gulped down the remains of the heavy latte in his demitasse. His eyes roamed the expanse of the large rectangular table. Those troubled faces, their heavy worried expression looked like someone had died._ Or is about to die_. Glacia, on his side, was busying herself by lightly stirring her coffee. Drake, on Glacia's right, had his frown reach to his cleft chin, his hands heavily slumped on both of his sides. Next to him was Phoebe, her chair pushed far backward that she was the farthest in the table. Vincent, directly opposite of Phoebe, had his right hand pushing his forehead, looking like he was shadowing his face from the chandelier's light above. Agatha was beside him, her hands clutching her walking stick on her lap. Then Bruno, his big elbows were on the table, with the burden of expression he carried. Steven was at the far side of the table, his light gray eyes fixed on the mahogany table, studying it. Lorelei sat next to him, her face being the calmest of all, very ironic as she should be worrying about her own safety. Lance sat on the other side of Sidney, his face buried in his hands in deep silence.

"We should be after Team Rocket. This one's the biggest offense they've committed so far." Lance muttered in his face.

Glacia's melodic voice rose from the other side of the table, "How do you know it's Team Rocket? It could be Team Aqua or Team Magma."

"We've unearthed some of the bomb shrapnel and unfortunately, Team Rocket's mark was on it." said Bruno, his voice quivering a bit. "Why would they do such a thing? Why do they have to bomb the entire building?"

Lorelei breathed calmly, watching people talk about the growing confusion. Another thought stirred in her. People give much more importance to those who are going to die. More often than not, they ignore those who are with them, take them for granted, but when a dying person was right infront of them, some even risk in their lives just to let that person continue living. Is death really that scary? She wanted to know.

"Furthermore, we need someone to watch over Lorelei until a spy tells us about Team Rocket's whereabouts." suggested Lance, a smile hiding beneath his troubled face. He glanced at the others, hoping that someone would volunteer. For the past days, he was watching her, and he has become unbelievably dull like her. He wanted to be with other's company, not that he doesn't like Lorelei, but he wants to be around a noisy, happy atmosphere. His voice dragged, as his mind knew that the responsibility of taking care of this woman will be in his hands, as always, "Any volunteers? None?"

A hand was lazily raised from the other side of the table. It was Vincent. He closed his eyes for a second then he looked at the others, "Since Steven and I are the only non-Elites here, and Steven has a lot of work to do, I nominate myself."

All eyes went to him out of curiosity. Lance grinned at the back of his mind. Yes! He won't be the caretaker this time.

"What about your job? Being one of the top Coordinators, being an endorser of several products, being the vice president of the Battle Frontier, who will manage all of those?" blurted Glacia. "Surely, you know that your schedules are full of activities."

In the ten people seated on the large table, it was Vincent who was the busiest person around. As a supermodel for tons of clothing lines and several products, his hectic schedule was the most confusing of all. In being the top Coordinator in all Hoenn and the second in the three regions, he has to attend many Pokémon Conventions all over Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. And as the vice president of the Battle Frontier, the man just below Scott, he manages everything, from the employees to the Frontier Brains of the group. He also examines and updates the lists of the number of trainers who accomplishes challenges everyday.

"I should be watching over Lorelei, Vincent." said Steven. He felt kind of guilty at that part, all he does is catch rare steel Pokémon, and it was Vincent, who does all the work known to man, that volunteered.

"I can take care of myself. I do not need an escort—I would be the sole reason of the conflict in your schedules." Lorelei voiced out. She does not want to be the reason of divergence again. If she's going to die, she doesn't want to leave any burden on any of people here.

But Vincent ignored her and turned to Steven instead, "Steven will be the spy for us, as he has done many spying activities in past. He will act as a Rocket grunt in the meantime. I will be watching Lorelei as, you, Elites will be very busy entertaining the news about the bombing. I'll talk to Scott later to fix my schedule."

"You will be behind her, always. Never leave her for even a second." Agatha spoke for the first time, her voice craggy as always. She turned to everyone on the table, "No one but us alone must know that Team Rocket is after Lorelei. We must tell the media that Team Rocket wants to disturb the silence again to wreck havoc to all, as usual."

"I don't need unnecessary escorts." Lorelei voiced out again, this time, her voice was louder. Why do humans complicate life? If it is her time, it is her time. She knows she cannot spin destiny out of its wheel. "The Kanto Indigo building is still destroyed, all my things are in Four Island. I will stay there for the time being until the Elite Four are ready to do their duties again."

Sidney raised a hand and did not put it down until all the attention was on him. "This is Lilycove City, the center of economic trade in all of Hoenn. We, the Hoenn Elite have reserved a nearby hotel for all of the Elite Four to stay in the meantime. Also, this restaurant, is in Vincent's property, we can close this to ourselves whenever we have our meetings. Let us finalize things now, so that each of us can get a good night's sleep, okay?"

Some nodded, others tried their best to at nod, or at least, fight their drowsiness.

Sidney started talking again, trying to sound awake, "Starting tomorrow, Steven will sneak in Rocket territory and be a grunt for a while until we have enough inside scope. Also tomorrow, Vincent will follow Lorelei wherever she goes and knows whatever she does. All of us, will be staying in the inn just a few steps from this restaurant. Hoenn Elites will go back to their daily duties starting the day after tomorrow while Kanto Elites will do whatever they please until the building has been fully renovated. The inn will serve you for free for as long as you stay. Enjoy your temporary settlement in Hoenn. And everyone, prepare your speech for the media tomorrow, the media will die to get an inside scoop… Well, that's it for now."

--

The next day, Lorelei found herself unconsciously answering a chain of interviews in the middle of a thick crowd outside the inn. It looked like the Kanto Elite was cornered by a mob. Everyone was noisy. The cameras continued to blind the four for the next few minutes. Lance and Bruno did most of the talking, while Agatha and Lorelei answered only half of the questions thrown at her. Vincent stayed inside the inn—it would be troublesome if he's going to come out now, people will go to him instead of the four controversial people in Kanto.

--

After another day, the Hoenn Ever Grande Elites already went back to their place in Ever Grande City. Steven is currently doing some spy work now. The Elite Four of Kanto are doing separate tours around the region; Bruno went to Dewford Town to visit Brawly, Lance went to Meteor Falls in Fallarbor Town, hoping to catch a Bagon, Agatha went to Mt. Pyre by herself and planned to discuss the history of the earth with the elders and Lorelei chose to go to Slateport to buy a new set of souvenir dolls.

Lorelei walked calmly on the simply tiled pathways of Slateport. As she walked, whispers and murmurs can be clearly heard. People wanted to launch themselves over the Ice Queen of Kanto, but her serious expression warned everyone to back off. They maintained a three-meter distance away from her in the process. Her chin was up and her eyes were piercing as she walked serenely towards the market near the beach, where the splashing of waves were clearly heard and the salty smell of the seawater filled everyone's senses.

Directly behind her, a guy was following her with a warm smile on his charming lips. It was fun to be walking without actually being drowned in a crowd. He thanked Lorelei in his mind for that gutsy expression on her face. He walked coolly, the morning sun beaming on his contented, smiling face.

Lorelei stopped in his tracks, so he, too, stopped. She took a sharp intake of breath, "Do you really have to follow me around?"

"Yeah." Vincent shrugged, smiling even more as the growing heat of the sun gave life to his face. He always wanted this life, where you can walk peacefully whenever you wanted to. Even though murmurs were going in and out of his head, it was better than being immersed in a large crowd. Citizens were whispering to themselves this time, and all attention was on the two of them. Vincent cared the least, and so did Lorelei.

Lorelei sighed, and resumed walking a few seconds later. A while ago, she and Vincent had taken the SS Tidal for a span of an hour. There were no conversations, as Lorelei treated him like air. Vincent was pretty silent himself, he doesn't want to attract attention while in the ferry. Now, as Lorelei walked to the fat lady who has a large display of Hoenn Pokémon dolls infront of her, the Ice Queen blamed herself for not thinking of having a disguise in the first place. She overheard a Junior and a Senior trainer talking among themselves.

"Is that Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four?"

"Yes, yes, indeed! Oh~! Vincent is with her! Are they together?"

"I don't know, but they make a cute couple, don't you think??"

Before the Junior trainer had the chance to answer, Lorelei narrowed her eyes and glared at the two. The Senior and Junior immediately withdrew their view from her and pretended that they were looking at a fine pair of decoration plants. Lorelei glanced behind her to see his reaction. But Vincent was, still smiling as if he heard nothing, looking at another species of red plants. Lorelei kicked the thought out of her mind, _yeah right, like I'll fall for Mr. Perfect._ She hated him from the start. Whenever his drowsy seemingly uninterested lazy eyes fell on her view, it makes her shiver. And yes, she decided to hate him simply because of that.

"This best, and only, stuffed doll shop here in Slateport! From cute little Pichu to a gigantic huggable Slaking, we have it!" the fat lady made a large grin full of hope when Lorelei and Vincent stood infront of her merchandise. The flab of the lady's chin went down to her neck as she grinned even more. She extended her arms to her products and winked at Vincent. "I see, you're buying a doll for your girlfriend. Hm… I suggest this palmtop Cloyster doll only for—"

"I'm not his girlfriend and he's not my boyfriend. And I already have a Cloyster doll at home. I don't need an extra one." Lorelei interrupted irritably. She was starting to get annoyed. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the medium-sized Walrein doll near the edge of the table that certainly caught her attention but then, thinking of her pride, she turned her back against the storeowner and walked away. The murmurs became louder like a horde of Beedrill. Tons of eavesdropping residents were now starting to crowd the booth.

Vincent sighed and looked as Lorelei stormed away from the store. He, however, smiled to the storeowner and reached for his wallet, "I'd like that one please. How much does it cost?"

--

Cooling herself down, Lorelei resumed her calm walking as she faced the deep blue seawater. She took out a Pokéball and threw it to the sea.

"Lapras, let's go to Petalburg City right away." Lorelei immediately rode on top of her ever-faithful Pokémon. The hard dull spikes of Lapras became Lorelei's chair. She looked around, and saw no Vincent. Who cares? Not her, for sure. Giving the go signal, Lapras sent out to the sea, with her trainer on its back, and leaving Vincent vulnerable to the mass of people waiting for Lorelei to leave so that they could, finally, swarm him.

--

It took her two hours just to get to Petalburg via Slateport. They even passed by Dewford Town and saw Bruno training with Brawly. But Lorelei wanted to make the short trip quicker and just waved at the two trainers. Landing on the seashore nearest Petalburg, she searched for a Pokémon Center in the middle of the average populated city. After Nurse Joy nursed her exhausted Lapras back to normal health, she wanted to decide whether where she should go next. But, as the exit door glided to the side to make way for her, she saw Vincent. He was leaning his back at the side of the wall, his arms crossed, and his eyes closed as if he was sleeping, but he still has that warm smile on his face.

"Didn't you know that you could've made it to Petalburg in just three minutes via Route 103?" He opened his still drowsy eyes and faced to the side, to her.

It dawned upon her. She raised an eyebrow. "You mean I wasted two hours for nothing?"

"Two hours?" chuckled Vincent, his tone unbelieving. Really, this woman can be quite impractical sometimes. Why didn't she check the possible routes in her PokéNav? Surely, there are tons of listed shortcuts and alternate routes for her convenience. He uncrossed his arms and stood properly. Smiling at her like nothing ever happened, he nodded, "Okay then, I've decided."

"What?"

He shook his head slowly, smiling. "I'll be your tour guide when you're here in Hoenn."

"What?" She asked again.

"Since I'm going to watch over you, I might as well be your tour guide." Vincent winked. "There are a lot of shortcut routes here in Hoenn, and believe me, if you don't know these routes, you'll be wandering here forever."

She shook her head slowly and sighed. Her tone drag, she narrowed her eyes, "Really…"

Vincent nodded like a kid and dug his hands in his pockets. After a while of searching, he took out a small doll. Smiling, he handed the doll to her with his two hands, the doll on the middle. Lorelei raised another eyebrow and studied the palmtop Absol doll. She interpreted the uneasy silence between them and took the doll. It was magnificent. Absol was looking upwards, the rest of its body crouching like a wolf. The white fur that covered its body was like made of cotton and the sharp horn at its side was now cutely reduced to becoming dull. Lorelei squeezed it and was amazed. Never had she held a doll as soft as this one. The white fur felt like clouds. She smiled. But after a few seconds, her smile had vanished as all the lights seem to disappear on her face. Her features returned to formally solemn, her lips becoming straight again.

With her demanding azure eyes, she returned the doll in his hands. "I want a nicer one."

"What?" Vincent raised an eyebrow. _I want a nicer one._ He shoved the doll back in her hands, frowning a little. "So this is what you get after giving someone a doll of your favorite Pokémon? You want a nicer, bigger, softer doll?"

"You heard me." Lorelei briefly smiled and walked ahead, not caring where but just walked in the direction she wanted to. She clutched the Absol doll in her hand unconsciously as her hands swayed on her side.

"Hey!" He almost ran to catch up to her. Once he was walking with her at his side, he overtook her and walked backwards instead as she continued walking forward. "That doll was the softest out of the dolls there! If you want a softer doll, I'll buy you a pack of cotton and glue it around a doll you like. What made you so picky anyway?"

Lorelei ignored him and walked faster, making him retreat faster too. She looked straight ahead, as if no one was infront of her, avoiding her bulldozing figure. And then, with ground shaking 'thud', Vincent bumped against a small figure. He and Lorelei stopped to look.

"Vincent! Oh, wow, I'd never thought you'd come by this place!" It was Brendan. Vincent had to blink his eyes a couple of times,

"Hey, I what happened to your hair? Last time I saw it, it was white."

Lorelei scoffed, not losing the seriousness of her look, "That was his cap you saw, idiot."

"Hey! Nobody calls me idiot you unyielding, picky, conceited, arrogant woman!" Vincent stuck a tongue out to her, his drowsy eyes opening a little wider. His eyebrows cutely pointed to the center as he frowned at her. Lorelei shrugged him off and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop fighting you two," interrupted Brendan. "And I thought I was the kid here. Oh yeah, Vincent, didn't you say that you're going to give me something when we meet again?"

A tickle of sweat dropped from Vincent's forehead as his mind recalled the things in his bag that would be suited to a kid like Brendan. Recalling nothing of use, his eyes went to Lorelei, who was clearly ignoring him. He saw the Absol doll in her hands. Quickly, he snatched the doll from her. Handing it over to Brendan, he smiled, "Here."

With a frustrated expression, Lorelei snatched the doll from the kid's hand. She turned to Vincent and sneered at him, "You gave this to me, this belongs to my property now. …Idiot."

"Why you—!"

"Stop fighting like kids, okay?" Brendan interrupted them again. Ugh, grown-ups. Can they, at least, try to act like their age? He has had enough of them alright. Storming out of their view, he put on his white cap that looked a lot like hair. "I'll leave you two alone to fix your own mess."

Vincent sighed when Brendan was out of his view. He breathed deeply and looked at Lorelei who held the Absol doll securely in her hands. He smiled by himself. At least she has the doll in her possession, right? Their feud died like an extinguished fire, the smoke cooling down. Both resumed strolling the vacant lot of grassland near Oldale Town. Silence swept over them. Vincent resumed his smile again, happy that no crowd was eating him as he walked behind her. She continued walking in no direction until they reached Route 103 and stopped. She took out her Lapras and this time, with Vincent, they went back to Slateport to catch the last trip before noon at SS Tidal.

--

The two spent the rest of their day silently, as if they were all alone. Vincent went to Battle Frontier then made up for the photo shoot he missed in the afternoon and settled things up while Lorelei was in the inn the whole afternoon and after taking her dinner, she rested for the day. They have had enough of each other. Well, it was only for six hours but they knew that they will be having another fight if they continued the rest of the day. But Vincent volunteered to look after her in the first place; he has to get his duty done. Both knew it would be a long time to get reacquainted until Steven finds out Team Rocket's hideouts and until the Kanto Indigo Plateau building is back to its shape.

As Lorelei lie awake in her bed, she remembered his faint voice before she slammed the door of the inn infront of him earlier this day. "You know, I was thinking of buying the Walrein doll but it was too big to fit in my pocket."

Then, she realized something. It was something that Pryce told her to remember for the rest of her life. She has to stay away from the Pokémon Absol, for it brings chaos to anyone.

_Absol, the Disaster Pokémon_.

Disaster and death, it means the same thing. Is Vincent trying to give disaster to her? Is he giving her death? She knew it now. To her, all Ice type Pokémon symbolizes life. If Vincent says that Walrein was too big to fit in his pocket, it means that he cannot carry a big doll. He cannot carry a life, let alone, Lorelei's. And instead, he is giving her Absol, the Pokémon who only shows up when disasters are going to happen. She knew it was too early to judge, but she isn't a lowly educated person that cannot interpret a simple symbol. Lorelei was serious. It was simply because of the doll that symbolizes death. It was simply because of that she hated him more.

--

_**Author's Notes:**_Waaaa~ to the reviewers, thank you so much for reviewing! Lorelei's mind is okay (in a way), but really, she's just hiding it somewhere deep. She won't confront Vincent in the next chapter; she'll just go with the flow of my writing. *wink*

Please review! Hyuu~!


	9. Chapter 9: Memories of the Past

**Chapter 9: Memories of the Past**

"_Destiny is something people invented because they can't stand the fact that everything that happens is the result of their choice." Vincent quoted as the icy breeze caressed his face. He turned to her, as her head fell on his shoulder blade. "You believe in destiny, don't you?"_

"_There's nothing in wrong in believing the unknown." she nodded, closing her eyes. As the two of them sat on the shoreline, the water teased them, licking their bare feet once in a while. The crescent moon radiated its beauty, shining the two of them with graceful illumination. "I heard there are blazing Pokémon in Fiery Path, I intend to go there and catch a Torkoal while grandpa is working at the gym. Will you come with me?"_

_Vincent took a deep breath, the saline smell of seawater filing his nose. His arm draped, falling on her shoulder. He pulled her closer, hugging her. He closed his eyes, "Of course."_

_When he opened his eyes again, he was alone, hugging himself. The water submerged his feet for a while but retreated after a few seconds. He looked above, and saw that the moon was full, no longer the crescent moon that he wanted to see. The past was taking its toll on him now, making him remind about the times when he was with her. He closed his eyes again, hoping that after a while, she will be back with him. But, no. For the second time, she wasn't with him, but her smell, the smell of dandelion stayed fresh in his nose. He crumpled his hair with his fist, as he gritted his teeth. Why did he ever let her go?_

_He called out her name in a whisper. He hoped, that after a few seconds or maybe minutes, someone will respond. He hoped that she will answer his call. But after a few hours of waiting in vain, he knew the sad reality of being alone._

--

"How many bombs did you put out in there?" A Rocket Admin boomed, his voice echoing the large vacant room.

"Seventy, sir." The Rocket grunt next to Steven replied nervously. Ten grunts formed a straight line, Steven was in the middle, directly infront of the uneasy Admin who was tapping his feet impatiently.

"Then why haven't you killed the Elite Four yet?!" The Admin shouted infront of the grunt beside Steven. The Admin was fuming, his face red as a ripe tomato. "With that number of bombs, you should've killed even an employee! Now, what will we tell Giovanni? He wants us to kidnap that Lorelei and kill her. Now, what foolishness have you done you stupid grunts?"

Steven almost choked in his own breathing. Kidnap Lorelei and kill her. It was true, after all. Vincent told them that Team Rocket wants her dead. For a while, Steven wondered why was he here, pretending to be a grunt. He then knew that he has someone to save.

--

Lorelei found Vincent outside of the inn. She put up a disguise to avoid the crowd. She had let her hair down, her flaming locks landing softly on her shoulders. She also changed her attire; instead of the black sleeveless top she wore, it was now an ocean blue bolero that covered her red tube top. Her skirt was now metallic black, and was a lot tighter and shorter than the usual, longer one. It was not a big problem of hers to worry about the looks that she got from men with her attire. She would always glare at them like an angry Seviper.

"You're late today." muttered Vincent as she passed by him. He glanced at his silver watch, which was shining bright even beneath his clothes.

Lorelei turned around. And instead of seeing a blue-haired idiot by the doorway, she saw a crimson-haired guy who was wearing a formal attire; white tuxedo with navy blue collars and a black necktie. He looked like a totally different person. And it seems that Vincent had put up a disguise like her… although those emerald drowsy eyes of his told her that he was the same idiot yesterday who doesn't know the difference of a white cap and black hair.

"I don't know that you knew how to read the time." She teased, sarcasm in her voice. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, walking away. "I thought the watch was only a decoration."

Vincent's head boiled. Ugh! The nerve of this woman is driving him nuts! He is the one who volunteered to take care of her own safety, she should be thankful! He followed her, with his disguise and hers too. She walked in circles around Route 121, not really knowing where she should go next. Vincent enjoyed looking at her confused face as they kept walking around the same path for a while now. Lorelei was trying her best to hide her perplexed expression—she knew that Fortree City was just around the corner, what trouble her was the tall grass that kept blocking their way.

Finally, to avoid wasting her precious time, she decided to ask for assistance. She turned around and saw him smiling at her, as if she knew what was on her mind. His crimson hair was a lot darker than her close-to-cherry-red hair. He looked like he was on fire, though.

"Fortree isn't a good place to go right now." He scratched his head as he remembered his sister Winona. She knew his disguise already, she was the one who suggested it in the first place. Oh boy. If she sees him with Lorelei… No. He wouldn't want to think about it.

"I want to go to Fortree and you can't stop me." She turned her back from him and continued to walk, parting the tall grass that came in her way. Vincent shrugged and stood on the spot as she walked away. After a few minutes, Lorelei was back and surprised to see his smiling face. "I… I already passed here."

He laughed and shook his head. _Women and their instincts_… He took out a Pokéball and threw it upwards. Then, a melodic tune enveloped the area as if lulling them to sleep. It was Altaria. The cotton-like wings hugged its light blue body like thick fog. It was a very beautiful Pokémon, one of the most graceful of all. The melody continued for a few minutes and Lorelei had to close her eyes to feel the soul of the tune that seemed dedicated to her. Then, it stopped. She opened her eyes and saw Vincent stroking the head of the bird, which hummed with its soprano tone.

Vincent roughly grabbed her hand and dragged her to his Altaria. He lifted her from her feet and set her on Altaria's back. Lorelei had to blink a few times if this wasn't all a dream—a nightmare. She would have demanded to let her hand go had he not lifted her to ride on his Pokémon. Vincent jumped and settled himself infront of her. "Altaria, let's go to Fallarbor."

--

Lorelei could not help but be mesmerized. Altaria isn't like Dragonair who flew like the speed of light, it was taking the trip slowly. She was smiling unconsciously, as she looked down the large mat of trees that seemed to decorate the landscape. The mountains rose high and the peaks were covered by cold thick fog. Flying on top of Hoenn was truly magical. From the well preserved forests and mountains to the boom of economic civilization, everything's perfect. The clouds felt like warm water as it massaged their faces. A flock of Swablu flew alongside them, singing with Altaria as it showcased its beautiful voice. She felt the song drawing her in. Slowly, her hands encircled his waist without thinking. The side of her head was now resting against his back, her eyes closing to sleep. She did not care whether he will be angry with her; she wanted to sleep then and there. And nothing can stop her—not even him.

--

Vincent felt something heavy against his back. He faced to the side and with the corner of his eye, he saw Lorelei sleeping with her head resting on his back. He tried to shrug her heavy head off but she was persistent. Looking down, warm heat seared across his face as he saw her hands tightly entwined around his waist. Nevertheless, he breathed deeply and focused on steering his Pokémon, which was clearing enjoying the singing that it did. But as they passed Fortree City, his eyes widened as he saw his sister's large grin on top of a tree house.

"Hey there brother!!" Winona waved her hands frantically in the air, trying to catch Vincent's attention. Wallace was beside her, holding a silver camera, which he borrowed from Sidney. Winona surrounded her mouth with her hands to maximize her voice. "Who's with you there?"

Uh-Oh. Vincent maneuvered Altaria to the far side and pretended that he didn't hear her. He called back. "What did you say?"

"WHO ARE YOU WITH??" Winona shouted, fighting the strong air current that was blocking her voice.

Vincent directed Altaria to another direction and flew away. Winona frowned heavily, she swore she saw her brother with a woman clinging to his waist. What does he think she is, blind? She recognized that maroon-dyed hair from afar and immediately climbed to the top of the tree house with Wallace to catch them.

"That was Miss Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four with your brother." Wallace smiled, waving his camera slowly. Who could forget that short-skirt-eyeglasses-wearing-red-haired woman? Not him, for sure. Even if Lorelei let her hair down, she still looked the same to him. Good thing he was holding a camera. "I heard the Kanto Indigo League is on hold now, because of the bombings."

Winona snatched the camera from his hands. "You took a picture of them?"

Wallace laughed. He corrected her, "Pictures."

--

"_What gift would you like to have, my granddaughter?" The old man extended his arms and his eyes roamed the big mansion full of guests and gifts. "You can have anything here."_

_She wore a sparkling red gown that cut up above her knee. She looked elegant, at the age of eight. Now, as she celebrated her birthday, she needed to think of a birthday present for herself. She doesn't need wealth; her grandfather is one of the richest men in Hoenn. She doesn't need charming dresses, she has three wardrobes upstairs just for gowns. She doesn't need material gifts, she has them all. Now, what would she like to have?_

_Her flaming red eyes scanned the whole mansion. It was filled with lights and chandeliers and fancy things that she did not even know. Grown-ups were mostly invited and only a few unfamiliar kids. People were wearing gowns and formal attire; it was a very proper celebration. No one is permitted to enter without the invitation. At this moment, her grandfather was waiting for her decision—her gift._

_A young boy caught her attention. He stood like an aristocrat, like a noble-man even though he was just about three years older than her. His drowsy eyes were full of influence like an emerald stream of knowledge. That pure white tuxedo that he wore and that maroon colored necktie that looked a lot like the color of blood caught her attention. His deep blue hair reminded him of the ocean—it fascinated her. He looked at her from across the room and smiled. She felt her surroundings lighten up because of his genial smile. In an instance, she knew the birthday gift suited for her. Slowly, she raised her gloved hand and pointed a finger to the boy at the other end of the room. She looked at her grandfather._

"_I want him."_

--

Vincent's heart hammered in his chest. Uh-Oh. This isn't good. Altaria stopped singing and decided to hum softly to calm its trainer. What will his sister tell the others? He swore he saw a camera shining in Wallace's hands a while ago. What if they took a picture and give it to the media? Bah. Vincent realized his dyed hair and Lorelei's untied hair. Only Winona and Wallace can recognize them at this rate. If they will submit the photos to the media, no one would believe them for sure.

As Vincent sighed, he felt her stir. Lorelei blinked and groaned, failing to remember that she was still on air. Her senses came to her, as her embrace around his waist loosened. Oh. She fell asleep because of Altaria's singing.

"I heard… someone shouting…" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Her hands were now clawing his shoulders instead of his slim waist. "Who was that?"

"Shouting?" Vincent almost choked. She must've heard Winona's voice. "Wake up and stop dreaming."

--

_The old man called for the boy and presented him to his granddaughter. A boy as a present for her birthday? It was one of the things that went unexpected._

"_What is your name?" She asked._

_The boy smiled, his attractive face lightening up some more. He raised his elbow outward, "Vincent."_

_She smiled back, thrilled of her present. She hooked up her arm with his extended elbow. _

--

Vincent and Lorelei walked the auburn colored soil of Fallarbor Town quietly. Lorelei was disappointed to find nothing of interest. There was a Battle Tent nearby, but it was nothing compared to the thrill of Battle Frontier. Somehow, the fact that she's going to die was completely erased from her worry-free mind. Who cares about dying early? She decided not to care about that.

Turning around to face him, her demanding self showed again, "I want to eat."

--

_Vincent was hiding under the table, afraid. He caught his dad again making out with another young woman. He hates him! Why couldn't he just have mom as the only woman in his life? It was because of him and his treachery, Vincent and Winona's mom died. She had a heart failure. But that did not stop their dad from coveting other women. Winona was now in Fortree City, under their aunt's care while Vincent chose to stay in Fallarbor. _

_He was crying. A little boy, he was. Crystal tears fell on his smooth cheeks, the stain of sadness. Why does it always have to be like this? A low whimper came from his side. It was Absol, his first Pokémon that he caught. Even though it was with him now, it could not comfort him. It sat beside him under the table and snuggled. He continued to cry, even though his father and his woman wasn't there anymore. Then, the door opened, and the voice that he longed to hear called,_

"_Vincent?"_

_She closed the door behind her the second she heard his sobs. She crouched and saw his tears. Slipping under the table to join him, Absol went to sleep next to them._

"_How did you find me?" asked Vincent, startled. He tried to wipe his tears away, but it kept falling._

_She sat on her folded knees. It was enough to be comfortable, as her little head did not reach the top of the table. She ushered him, and let his head lie on her lap._

"_I'll always find you wherever you are, remember that." She muttered, as he cried silently on her lap. He felt comfort for the first time in his life. He wanted to stay like this forever._

"_Don't go until I fall asleep, okay?"_

_She nodded, removing the stray hair that covered his eyes. In that instant, he fell asleep on her lap. She wiped the tears away from his eyes and closed her eyes too, so that she can sleep with him._

--

"Then buy your own food." Vincent deadpanned and put his hands in his pockets.

Lorelei walked past him and passed by a poster. Vincent's charming smiling face was the model. It was about an upcoming concert of his group. The poster was embroidered with flashing colors of the neon hues. Vincent was in the middle of four other guys. Wallace was on his right, his face gleaming of elegance. They were all wearing very bright colors which were unusual as Vincent dislikes dressing up. At the bottom of the poster, there was a large comical word, 'LOLLIPOP'. With that, she scoffed. Lollipop for people their age? Yeah right.

"Just buy me food."

Vincent took a quick glance at one of the scattered posters and smirked. Then, he turned to Lorelei and stuck his tongue out, "You buy your own food, you demanding troublesome woman."

--

"_It's cute, isn't it?" She asked him with her new look. Her sun burnt orange colored hair stood like a peacock showing off its brilliant feathers. She wore a black half-shirt, her flat stomach showing for the whole world to see, and tattered jeans. It was her first time to wear casual attire, as she was accustomed to wear formal dresses. Even though she was wearing differently, her crimson tinted eyes still burnt of passion. "What do you think, Vincent?"_

_As he sat on a stool, wearing a jacket and tie, he examined her from head to foot. Not bad. Her street clothes actually looked good on her. He nodded and gave her thumbs up, "Perfect."_

_She laughed. Even at her age, she knew she was very immature. From the way she talks, the way she walks, everything was childlike. It suited her appropriately to contrast Vincent's strong and quiet persona._

"_Let's go get you a Torkoal then." suggested Vincent, smiling. He stood up from the stool and dusted his formalwear._

_Her red eyes glinted like newly-lighted fire. "Right now?!"_

"_Well, yeah." He laughed, taking her hand and dragging her to the door. Her voice reached his ears, she was complaining about how she looked. But he ignored her and until they reached the Fiery Path, he held her warm hand._

--

"I don't have my wallet with me. I left it in the pockets of my old clothes." Lorelei admitted, her heavy eyebrows trying to conceal her diminished pride. What could be more embarrassing that asking a guy that you hate to buy you food because you left your wallet?

"Okay then," Vincent sighed, shaking his head. "But you have to repay me."

"Repay you by what?"

"You have to," He grinned, a dark plot forming in his ingenious mind.

From the corner of his eye, he saw an elderly gentleman looking at the two of them, as if something was wrong. He knew that he was Vincent in disguise, but was hesitant to shout it out loud. Vincent, to clear the old man's mind of any suspicion, leaned forward to Lorelei and pressed his cheek against hers. He cleared his throat and in a serious voice, he whispered, "You have to accompany me to Lavaridge Town afterwards. We need to get out of this town, your disguise isn't enough."

Lorelei should've slapped him in the face for pressing his cheek to hers but thought about the idea afterwards. Nevertheless, he was right, a lot of people are now starting to whisper among themselves while looking at them. She nodded and after he removed the pressure in their cheeks, the burning sensation she felt vanished.

--

_**Author's Notes:**_ Well, that's about it for this chapter. Hm. The unnamed person was Vincent's first love (-Too bad for Lorelei though-). I guess you already know with the clues I gave out (with your minds, I know you knew it from the start!) Please keep on reviewing!


	10. Chapter 10: Scam Call

**Chapter 10: A Scam Call **

--

_Beep. Beep. Beep. B—_

"_Hello?"_

"_Hey, Lorelei, why did you call me? Did you miss me too much?"_

"_Shut up. I just want to clear things up."_

"_Okay then, shoot."_

"_You see, I read about an article in the newspaper in Kanto about a legendary trainer who defeated the eight gyms in just barely three days. The article stated that the trainer has Pokémon that were raised to the terrifying extremes and is from Fallarbor Town in Hoenn. You said you were from Fallarbor Town, and was it mere coincidence that your Vigoroth just knocked-out my Dewgong in a single non-one-hit knock-out move called double kick? Tell me—are you that trainer in the newspaper?"_

"_Well, yeah. Next question please."_

"_Were you the same person who warned me about my death and the bombings in the Indigo Plateau?"_

"…_Yeah."_

"_How did you know about Agatha's vision?"_

"_Okay… First, I went to Kanto to visit an old friend—"_

"_And who is that?"_

"_Gary Oak, my nephew. Professor Oak is my mother's brother. Anyway, as I was walking with a Misdreavus, which was I borrowed from a day care center to give to Gary, through the Viridian Forest, we were ambushed by five Rocket Grunts. They wanted to steal my Pokémon away, but no offense, they were too weak. Misdreavus was acting kind of weird and I realized that it was feeding on the fears of the grunts who were thinking of sneaking the bombs in the Indigo Plateau, about killing y—" _

"_Well, why do you care about my death when you're just a mere stranger to me? Why did you trouble yourself defeating all eight gyms just to get to me?"_

"_If I won't help you escape, I'll be haunted by my conscience forever."_

"_You called me in Four Island in my private phone. How did you know my number? You were kind of stalking me!"_

"_Uh. Why would I stalk a woman that I didn't know? I got your number from Winona, the leader of the Fortree City gym here in Hoenn. She's my sister."_

"_Last question, how long will you continue to follow me like an escort?"_

"_Until I disprove Agatha's vision I'll b—_"

"_Disprove Agatha's vision?! No one can disprove her visions, idiot. You'll have to wait for me to die. You can't negate her visions."_

"_Yes, Lorelei. I can. I must."_

_Beep. _

--

Vincent stepped down from Altaria's back and aided Lorelei afterwards. The hot humid air of the hot spring made them feel uneasy. It wasn't much of a town; there was a Pokémon Center, a Pokémart, a Pokémon gym at the corner, several houses, and an herbal store. There was nothing more in this place—Lorelei knew her little Four Island is much more of a tourist attraction than this elevated land at the foot of the volcano, Mt. Chimney. She wished they stopped over there first though. The only eye-catching places in this town are the sand-baths and the hot spring, nothing more.

"Tell me," She caught his attention after he returned Altaria to its Pokéball. "Why are we going rounds in Hoenn? Are you making my death a memorable one?"

Vincent smirked, shaking his head to the side. Why don't they ever understand the essence of friendship? "Is it wrong to tour a person without any other reason besides friendship?"

"Friendship?" She stressed on the word. Observing the little town, there were a few people outside. Mostly were old people taking a dip in the hot springs. No one would surely notice them for sure. "Last time I checked, you forced yourself to watch over me, not act as a tour guide. Have you reconsidered your options?"

"As a tour guide or as someone who will watch over you… I don't see the difference." He smiled, walking ahead to the Pokémon gym. Lorelei trailed slowly behind, an eyebrow raised. He shrugged his shoulders. And without looking back, he mumbled to himself. "Believe me; your death is going to mark a permanent scar on my soul. Besides, I hate to see people on the verge of life and death."

Vincent walked over to the glass windows of the Lavaridge Town gym. He placed his hand on one of the glass pane. In an instant, heat slowly crawled to his arms. He had been to this gym before, countless times. He remembered the scorching hot temperature that once almost toasted his insides. He remembered the fainting challengers who cannot take the heat of the place. He remembered the old man who ran the gym once and hoped that he'll find him here again. He remembered the girl whom he often was with in going to this place.

"Don't tell me you're going to battle the gym leader again?" Lorelei's mocking voice came from behind. She was crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot impatiently. "I want to visit a place where I can enjoy beautiful scenery. And a place where I can enjoy myself for at least four hours."

Vincent took a deep breath. He immediately rummaged his pockets for a small sachet. He tore it open and splashed the liquid in his hair like gel. In an instant, his hair was no longer crimson, but the original deep dark shade of blue. He ran his fingers through his hair a few more times to wash out the red tint. He turned to Lorelei and headed for the door of the gym, "I'm going to visit an old friend. Oh, and tie your hair, it will be hot inside."

--

And hot it is! Lorelei's forehead was being tickled by numerous droplets of sweat the first ten steps she took inside. Her eyesight was blurry as her eyeglasses were being fogged by the intense humidity. Nevertheless, she saw Vincent walking comfortably ahead. He must've been to this place already as he seems to disregard the searing temperature. He talked to the man beside the door and nodded. Lorelei wanted to ask why did they go to this hell but he was already steps away.

Vincent rubbed his leather shoes against the thin layer of sand that served as the flooring of the gym. He smiled as he saw Lorelei walking briskly to catch up with him. Looking around, he saw gym trainers bowing low to him. He replied with a courteous nod and continued walking. It was only a few steps to the gym leader as he knew the shortcut. He wanted to see the old man running the gym to check if everything was alright. He knew Lorelei was right behind him, as he heard her short gasps of air. With a smile on his enthusiastic face, he took his last step.

However, his smiling face was bitterly bent to a shocked expression when it wasn't the old man he saw. He looked up and saw the same peacock like hair, the same black half-shirt, the same tattered jeans, and the same immature face in the place of the gym leader.

"F-Flannery?" He stuttered. Sawdust started to fill his dried throat. His heart started to pound in his tight chest. He felt his insides tearing up as he saw the person that first made his heart beat. In a split second of seeing her face, it seemed that all the perfect attributes that he posses were gone. "W-Why are you… uh… here?"

--

_His heart could not sustain the overflowing emotion that he felt. As he watched her walk from behind, he realized that her flaming red hair does not look like a peacock, but rather, a butterfly with red wings. He smiled with his newfound discovery. All this time, he saw her as a person who can uplift everyone's spirits even with just her blazing aura alone. And today, as the two of them stood near the edge of the peak of Mt. Chimney, he will surely make a move this time. He had waited for thirteen years since he became her birthday present, now is the right time._

"_Flannery?" _

_She took a deep breath of the sooty, ashy smell of the boiling volcano infront of them. She exhaled and smiled. However, she did not turn behind to face him. "What?"_

"_I love you."_

_Shocked, she turned around and found his lips on hers. Her heart was as wild as a newly erupted volcano, she felt herself melt by a hundred degrees. It was at that point, that after a long period of being close with him, it was love that she felt. It was young, vibrant love that kept her smiling from up to this day._

"_I love you too."_

--

Flannery's cherry red eyes narrowed upon seeing him. Not far from him, a lady was standing and gasping for air. She recognized her instantly—Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four. She must be his new lady love. She knew it now. Vincent came here with her to introduce his bride-to-be.

However, haunting memories of the past kept Flannery from being all confident. "I… uh… I'm the… wait… I'm the new gym leader here. Um… Why are you here?"

"I was looking to meeting your grandfather." He coughed in his hand uneasily. It pained him to even take a glance on her fire-lighted eyes. It looked the same, the face that he wanted to see everyday when he wakes up by a large cold splash of water thrown at his face. "Where's Mr. Moore?"

"He retired to be a poet. I'm the new gym leader now." Flannery found her voice. Her charming eyes glinted naturally as her view shifted from him to Lorelei. Jealousy took over her but she was too vain to act like it. "Miss Lorelei is here, I wonder why."

He choked. He then realized his mistake—he should've gone alone. Turning around to catch a glimpse of Lorelei, his eyes widened. She was on the floor, her front buried with sand. The temperature was too hot for her to bear, considering that she specializes in Ice-type, she fainted.

"Lorelei!" Vincent, with his instincts and big ego, bent down and scooped the fainted woman from the sandy flooring. Her face was half-covered with sand and she was drenched with perspiration. Unconscious as she was, her undaunted face was still revolting. Her eyeglasses were on the floor, away from her glorious beauty.

Vincent turned to Flannery who was now gulping nervous amounts of air. Her heart was beating that same rhythmic pattern again, as she saw his worried face. She remembered that same expression of his when she was the one concerned. She remembered the time when it was her who fainted in this very gym.

She remembered when Vincent scooped her from the ground in the same way he scooped Lorelei.

--

"_Let's try your skills, kid." Mr. Moore smirked as he held his walking stick on one hand and a Pokéball at the other. He threw the Pokéball and a Slugma came out, the fire bustling with energetic flames that radiated heavy temperature of heat. For a Slugma, the hotter the radiated heat is, the stronger it is. Mr. Moore's Slugma was on its top form._

_Vincent sweat-dropped from the other end of the room, the temperature was starting to tear his insides. It was only his second time in this gym; he wasn't used to this kind of heat as he lived in Fallarbor. He turned around to take a glance at her but she had fainted._

"_Flannery!" He crouched down and shook her shoulders. _

_No response._

_She was sweating, and sand was on her bare arms as if hugging her. What he didn't know was she was half-awake, and she felt him as he slowly carried her in his arms. She was aware of him, of his familiar calm scent, of his warmth despite the burning temperature. But she did not dare open her eyes until she was on the clinic bed for she was afraid that her dream would end. It did not. And she found him sleeping beside her bed when she woke up._

--

"What business do you have with her?" asked Flannery. She looked at Lorelei's sleeping figure on the bed. Vincent was seating on a stool beside her, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. It seemed that history was repeating itself. But only that it was Lorelei who the memories repeated for, not Flannery.

Vincent took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He glanced at the woman on the bed and turned to Flannery. Shrugging his head, he tried to convince her with his tone, "Nothing."

"Why did you leave?" He immediately followed a question.

His throat was dry, and he felt his heart twitching. Six months ago, she vanished like smoke. He could not contact her—her grandfather would not talk to him. It was the very reason why he went here with Lorelei; it was to ask Mr. Moore about her. But today, this very day, she was at the gym, taking her grandfather's place as if nothing happened. Vincent nearly went crazy thinking about her for the past months. What happened to her? Where did she go? What is she doing right now? After three months of losing her, he decided to have an alternate job. He pursued his dreams and became successful. But as if the six months were erased by the wind, as if his worries were burned by her fire, she was here in front of him.

"Are you the same Flannery that I spent my childhood with?"

"You haven't answered my question yet—what business do you have with her?" She snapped back, her anger building. It would be useless if she would return to find him in the hands of another lady. Is she that easy to forget, that it only took him six months to move on? She locked her flaming eyes with his drowsy calm ones, and asked a very frank question. "Do you love her, Vincent?"

Does he love Lorelei? He shook his head in disagreement. Love is such a strong word to use. They barely knew each other if it wasn't for the two days that he spent with her. But the span of two days was enough to know that he does not feel anything for her besides friendship. To him, Lorelei's two days can never be compared to Flannery's thirteen years, it was a clear point.

"…No. We haven't been in each other's company since last week during my emergency trip to Kanto. Now, tell me Flannery, have you changed?"

"My grandfather wanted me to train by myself, nothing more." Her face was different this time. Instead of the happy, energetic girl he knew, she spoke with seriousness this time. She changed… He doesn't know her anymore. "That's the only thing you need to know."

"It's sad to accept how time flies so fast… that the person who was once your world, the one you start and end your day with, the reason of your existence, has just turned into someone…" He frowned, closing his eyes. He heard the closing of the door as she went out. Even with just the sleeping woman on his side, he continued, "…someone who tries to be a person who she is not."

--

Lorelei heard the whole talk. Suddenly, her breathing had become heavy. In her closed eyes, she can imagine their expressions. Vincent and Flannery…

"What business do you have with her?"

"Why did you leave? Are you the same Flannery that I spent my childhood with?"

"You haven't answered my question yet—what business do you have with her? Do you love her, Vincent?"

"…No. Now, tell me Flannery, have you changed?"

"I went to Kanto to train. That's the only thing you need to know."

"It's sad to accept how time flies so fast… that the person who was once your world, the one you start and end your day with, the reason of your existence, has just turned into someone"

She heard the door close. Flannery must have gone out. Lorelei was about to open her eyes to enter the scene but was surprised to hear his voice still speaking.

"…someone who tries to be a person who she is not."

Strange as it seems, Lorelei's mind went blank. She slept with the memories of the past in her mind. From her childhood, to this present day, black and white pictures appeared beneath her closed eyes. She did not know why, but she felt numbness crawl to her legs. She tried to open her eyes but they did not bulge. Slowly, she felt odd. She could not stop the pictures that were flooding in her mind. Is this death? She could not open her eyes; she could not shout for help and she was becoming numb. Is this death? In a flash, she felt the world closing in on her.

_Is this the death that I am waiting for?_

--

_Not quite…_

She was relieved that she was able to open her eyes again. Lorelei sighed as if a big sharp thorn was plucked from her heart. Smiling for the miracle that she experienced, she turned to her left and saw Vincent's blurred figure unmoving. Maybe he was sleeping, she was not sure. For a while, she thought she was going to die, because of the numbness earlier. But, she was ready to embrace death back then, why did she wake up? She was still on the white bed, her head on a pillow and half of her body covered by a white blanket in an aquamarine room.

Her mind trying to erase the traumatic numbness of being almost dead, she rubbed her eyes open and saw nothing but blurry shapes. Everything was distorted, everything looked soggy and she wasn't wearing her glasses. Her hands started to search… No, it was the blanket… On the left, uh, wait, that was the drawer… Her left hand continued to move without the unhelpful aid of her blurry eyes. Soft and moving, her hand landed on Vincent's calm sleeping face. It was of no reason but instincts, Lorelei's hands reached for his face. Under her soothing uncalloused hands, she felt his closed eyelids, his perfectly-angled nose and his thin lips. For a while, her fingers lingered on his lips, until they move.

"Ow!" She almost jumped from shock. Pain overtook her left forefinger as it was trapped between Vincent's upper and lower teeth. Although she cannot see well, she knew that her finger was being bitten. The pain told her so. "Stop biting my finger, idiot."

He loosened his bite for her to pull out a part of her finger. He immediately searched his pockets and found her glasses. Handing it over to her, he smiled, "You collapsed a while ago and left your eyeglasses at the gym." His smile bent down to a frown. "I had to go back to Lavaridge, you irresponsible woman."

Lorelei immediately put her glasses on and was relieved that her eyesight was back to normal. She was at the inn at Lilycove, as she recognized her burgundy traveling bag at the far end of the room and the aquamarine walls. She turned to him, "Why did you bite my finger? Do you take happiness in biting people's fingers, you idiot guy?"

"You're the one to talk," He smirked after standing to stretch his limbs. Snapping his neck, he chuckled, "Do you take happiness in taking advantage of a sleeping guy by feeling his lips on your fingers, you cold woman?"

"I was searching for my glasses and I stumbled upon your rough hard face. I thought those were my glasses." She snapped.

Vincent placed a hand on his smooth unblemished face and dismissed the feud. He narrowed his eyes and asked her in a kind tone, "Are you okay now?"

--

Beep. Beep. Be—

"Vincent? Are you still awake?"

"…Uh… kinda. W—"

"Listen carefully; I'm here at Team Rocket's base inside the Scorched Slab near Fortree City. Look, when you reach the dead end of the Slab, use Secret Power in the middle of the empty cave. A hole will appear and you will need Flash to get through. Inside the base, are high-tech equipments of Rocket, Aqua and Magma. Yes—they've collaborated. Find your way through and battle them all or just blow this place up. Got it?"

Vincent sat on his bed upright, his mind trying to register all the information.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Don't leave Lorelei alone, understood?"

"What?" His eyebrows perked up. "I'll bring her along with me?"

Steven's voice seemed craggy at the other end of the line. "Yes, bring her with you."

"Are you sure? They're after her, right? Why the hell would I bring her to the enemy's base?" Vincent was having second thoughts. The one on the other end of the line doesn't sound like Steven. It sounded like a machine or so. Yet, when he looked on his PokéNav, the name 'Steven' was the one calling. "Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me, Steven?" The other line responded.

Strange, Vincent thought. Steven always says, 'Vincent, this is Steven Stone.' as his introductory line. Could this call be a scam to lure Lorelei out? If this is a scam, Vincent would surely plan a quick plan to this. He decided to go along.

"Oh, yeah, right... Steven. When do you want me to go there?"

The suspicious voice replied, "As soon as you can. I'll be waiting here. Don't forget to bring Lorelei."

Beep.

A scam. It was obviously a scam. Even a kid would suspect that it was a fake call. With Rocket's advance technologies, they can simply tweak the sound changing device to Steven's voice. They didn't and the other line sounded like a mechanical imitation of Steven's voice. But, why did they made it obvious that they were faking the call? After hearing the fake call, no one would surely believe the information and the Scorched Slab seemed a hoax. But then again, why have they done the call? To twist his mind? To lure out Lorelei? Vincent knew why, and he decided to call Lance of the Kanto Elites that moment.

--

_**Author's notes:**_ ROAR! Flannery is Vincent's first love, alright. Mwahahahahahahahah! Lorelei doesn't seem jealous, why would she be? But Flannery clearly is jealous. Hm… 'Steven's' call was certainly a fake. What would Vincent do? Tune in for the next chap! Please Review!^^ Sorry for the late updates...

Next: Undecided


	11. Chapter 11: Undecided

**Chapter 11: Undecided**

By the time 'Steven's' call was done, I threw my PokéNav at the foot of my bed. My palms were sweating as my fists went into balls of fury and even my eyes were on their widest. Who the hell did I just talk to? If that was Steven's PokéNav, _WHERE THE HELL IS HE? WHERE'S STEVEN, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?_ I smacked a palm on my forehead. If Team Rocket found out that Steven was doing spy missions for us, would they kidnap him for ransom, to lure Lorelei out? Would they bomb another building for another attempt? _WOULD THEY FAKE A CALL AND TRY TO CONVINCE ME THAT THE CRAGGY VOICE WAS STEVEN?!_

As ideas rushed into my mind, I hurriedly got up from my bed and picked my PokéNav again. I quickly scanned my contacts and deliberately hit the 'Call' button.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Come on, answer the freakin' phone!

Beep. B—

"Hel…lo?" Lance's voice was even craggier.

I gripped my PokéNav tighter, even though I was afraid that the tension might break it into pieces. I was unconsciously gnashing my teeth, my breathing unusually uneven. "Pay attention,"

"I… am…" He responded, with an awkwardly lazy voice.

Hot blood sprang up my head, boiling me as if I was in fire. I almost shouted, "When you have to pay attention, you have to be fully awake!"

No response. I realized my mistake. I breathed, trying to calm myself down. So many things happening, so many people involved so many lives at stake…

"Hey, look, I'm sorry, man," I rubbed my temples, hoping that the other man at the other end of the line would read my thoughts to make it easier. "I just got carried away."

"Vincent?" Now, Lance was serious. His voice was back to normal. "Did something happen?"

I breathed again and tried my best to sound as calm as possible. Though I know it was unattainable… "We've lost contact of Steven. Someone—" I paused. "Something called me, just a few minutes ago. It told me it was Steven, but I know it wasn't him. It was clearly a machine, man. The mechanical voice, the missing introduction, it just wasn't Steven. You have to believe me, Lance. It wasn't him!" I was going in circles.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." He hesitated for a while. "So the one who called you was a machine, and we've lost contact of Steven?"

"Exactly," I closed my eyes shut. Slowly, calmness seeped through me aided by the faint lamp on my bedpost. "Steven's name was registered when the call happened. The machine was using Steven's PokéNav, although I didn't know how they had it. I have a bad feeling about this." I paused and un-balled my fists. "It was telling me something about Rocket's hideout, hidden somewhere in the Scorched Flab or—"

"Scorched Slab."

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever it is… Listen, the point is, the machine told me to investigate the area with Lorelei. I had second thoughts and asked it, but it was insisting not to leave Lorelei alone. It was weird, really."

"That was a scam an—"

"I know, right? The problem is, how are we going to track Steven, how are we going to get him back without any clue? How are we going to keep everyone safe? How am I supposed to protect Lorelei now that I don't know who is the enemy?" My anger was rising again. My fists were back into balls. And suddenly, I forgot that Lance was still at the other end of the line. "How about my job? My perfect career? And then there's Flannery, back after six months. I was hoping she'd have me again, but then, she thought than Lorelei and I— Ugh! It's like the world's throwing its dead all over me! How am I supposed to deal with all these things?!!!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," He said. "You know, if you will yourself and do your best, everything will turn out to be just like before."

Realization hit me. Flannery wasn't here anymore. Things are different now. "How will everything be just like before when there was no everything to start with?"

--

I couldn't sleep well after that night. Three days past and nothing happened. I never bothered to put up my disguise again when Lorelei and I walked across the streets of different cities. People talked about us, gossiped us, and took pictures of us… I didn't care. My illogical mind was too full to be concerned with paparazzi or fans or whoever they may be.

Lorelei seemed contented. We rarely talk, but are still and quiet most of the time. She might have learned that talking would only lead to fights, as always. We use Altaria as our means of transportation. We have toured around three cities now, Sootopolis, Dewford and Verdanturf. Well, actually, it was only her who enjoyed the scenery. I was just always behind her, silently following her as she took in the landmarks. Most of the time, and as I followed her through cities and past the curious people, my mind was off somewhere else. I planned and considered different possibilities that would lead us to victory. Different blueprints were on my mind, as well as strategies in defeating the enemy.

First, Lorelei's death was the only problem. But now, Team Rocket was nowhere to be found, and so was Steven.

"You seemed idiotically silent," Her voice distracted me. I blinked and noticed that we were walking on a deserted route near Fallarbor Town. She stopped walking and turned to me. "Have you cut off your tongue by accident?"

I shook my head, looking down. I didn't know what exactly happened to me since the machine called and fried my brains. I tried to look for holes, clues… for anything that would give me answers. I expected everything bad to happen in just a few more days. Who knows? Maybe the Ever Grande League would be next bombed… Or some unknown plague is going to kill everyone's Pokémon… Lorelei going to die in a couple of minutes… I don't know.

"Hey, you're passing out," She smacked a palm on my face.

I was surprisingly calm that I did not even bother to smack a fist back at her. My mind was going to explode. And I don't like it. She sat on a nearby bench, her hand patting her left side for me to sit. I sighed and sat down sluggishly beside her. Thinking about it, it seems that the anger of my existence for the woman beside me had vanished into thin air. I closed my eyes, blocking off the luminescence of the full moon above us.

"You don't act like yourself these past few days," She spoke as if she was talking to herself with murmurs. "You don't give me that smug face anymore… You don't bicker with me anymore… You've given up on Flannery… You don't care even if our pictures are on the media… You aren't concerned of your career anymore… You rarely talk… You don't smile…"

"Does it make any difference to you?" I asked, still with my eyes closed. I felt the wind gushing cool air against my face and I thought I would like it just like I did countless times before. I didn't. I hated the first second the wind touched my face. I sighed and opened my eyes. She was closer now, her face illuminated by the radiant moonlight. Her head was in my direction, and her eyes were studying my face. I did not meet her gaze, and stared blankly on the ground.

"Yes," She nodded to herself. "It makes a great difference."

"Have you ever felt that you were alone, all by yourself?" I asked. "…The feeling where you can't trust anyone anymore?"

Her head shifted and she was up, looking at the wonder wall of stars above. Her voice drabbled, "Most of the time… really…"

"I feel like that now." I sighed, my eyebrows slanting. "I have a lot of things in my mind. I want to shout. I want to explode. I want someone to hear me out…"

"I'll do." She nodded. I turned to her. She was still making shapes out of stars. "It's harder for me. You see, I've accepted the fact that I'm going to die sooner than everyone else. And with each passing minute, I try not to think ahead of my future. I've accepted the fact that there will be no future for me anymore, all my deepest dreams, my unfulfilled wishes… They're nothing to me now, because I'm going to die. You're lucky that no one has foreseen your death. You have a life infront of you, unlike me."

I was silent for a moment. I studied her as her eyes continued to wander endlessly on the neat mat of stars above. Her flaming hair danced with the gentle breeze and her azure eyes darting from one star to another. I realized that even the coldest people in the world opens up their heart to certain people. I smiled. I'm just lucky to hear her story.

She chuckled and shook her head. "I'm kidding, of course. I don't really care about death or life."

She was smiling. And she wasn't afraid to show it. For a moment, her eyes glistened like pearl and her laughter filled my ears like a sweet lullaby. It was the first time I've heard her laugh. I stared back at her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, I felt as if it wasn't gravity that kept me standing anymore. The strings of life that I've strongly held for 22 years of my life are gone. I've unconsciously released them as I continue to realize the beauty of her existence. The strings were loosened, untied… untied… untied… untied… and flew away. The million strings were gone, and only one was left. It was the only string that held me now. It was the only string that kept my heart beating up to this moment.

All of the things around me weren't there anymore. No more trees… No grass… No everything… I was standing in the middle of white space, stretching as far as my eyes could bear. Then there was her. Out of the white space, there was Lorelei. No, it wasn't her. It was her soul. It was the only thing that I can see.

"Vincent?" Her voice was lovely, like golden wind chimes blown by the wind.

I shook my head and we were back in the same deserted area. When I studied her face, it was as beautiful as a newly blossomed flower. Her limbs were graceful and fluid and her flaming hair was glossier than silk. I wondered for seconds… moments… My prospective changed. I was looking at her in a totally different view and angle. She felt like a magnet and I was a special metal that the magnet could only attract. I did not know what happened in the moment our eyes bore our own mirror image. I don't know if this is love or infatuation of both. All I know is that I've never felt anything close to this when I'm with Flannery. I felt like our souls linked themselves together.

There is no need for explanations and reactions. My soul has decided. Lorelei has become the center of my life, the core of my existence…

"Are you alright?" She asked, her eyes studying my mystified expression. "We were just talking and then your face went blank."

"Sorry," I realized that my half-lidded eyes have widened for the past minutes. My head bowed, and I gulped. "I'm really sorry. Forgive me."

I can imagine her lovely, calm face in my mind. If the Rockets are out to get her, they'll go through me first. If they're going to kill her, they're going to kill me first.

"No," She mussed my hair. I lifted my head up and she was waving her hand infront of my face. "It's alright. Seriously, you look like you just woke up from a dream."

I saw my face in the mirror of my mind. My face was bewildered, my expression puzzled. I shook my head. Lorelei was the string that tied me in the tree of life. I put the puzzle pieces together and it was indeed a discovery. Destiny chose the two of us. If I had only stared in her eyes long enough a few days ago, I must've realized it earlier. But now is the perfect time. Every problem in my mind was carried by the wind to a faraway place no one knows. I grasped what happened earlier.

She was the only one.

She's my other perfect half.

She's my soulmate.

I wondered if she just hit the realization the same time I did.

"Can I?" I asked, looking down.

She nodded and moved inches away from where I sat. She sat upright and smiled the smile that made me felt that I was made for her. I eased myself down, my head on her lap. I looked up and saw her face, shining like the stars above the sky. Her glasses buffed, adding more luminosity to her radiant face. Her scent was one of the white roses, clean and pure. I was smiling. There were no words for this. But at the back of my mind, I was wondering if this was all but a dream. She was a totally different person now, not the Lorelei that I used to have fights with. It seemed that this Lorelei was the perfect one for me. This Lorelei was the one who filled all the holes and gaps of my existence.

When one of her hands reached down to feel my hair and saw her calm, soothing face smiling at me, I knew she was done with the realization part. Her eyes told me that she sees me in the way I see her… as her perfect half…

"You knew?" I asked. I know she was able to understand me in a way that I've never thought we can. It was as if I can read her mind, her soul.

"Just a few minutes earlier than you did," She breathed; her hand still on my hair. She chuckled. "…Though I managed to look perfectly normal after that. You look like you've seen a ghost. It must've startled you greatly, you were white as a sheet."

It was a way that we both understood each other. We don't need words anymore. We can communicate without saying anything just as our eyes were completely focused on the other. It felt kind of funny; there was this new level of commitment and adoration that was washing over me. I felt like I can do anything with her. I felt I was complete… I was whole.

'_I thought this was magic.'_ She had said in her mind. And I can hear the words clearly. It was amazing. It was perfect.

'_Me too, I wonder how can all these happen?'_ I thought.

'_I don't know but I love it. I don't need to waste my time talking.'_

'_But promise me you won't rely on our thoughts.'_

'_Why?'_

'_I would love to hear your voice echoing in my head.'_

We stared at each other's eyes for an hour, talking silently with our lips closed. My whole life started to unfold itself as she was in my thoughts. Her life was infront of me, too. And I can feel every moment of her life as it were my own. There were no secrets between us as clips of memorable moments our lives were traded back and forth our minds. I saw how Pryce had mentored her… how she caught Lapras as her first Pokémon in the Icefall Cave… how she felt when her parents died… how she tried to accept the responsibility of becoming an Elite Four member… how she reacted when Agatha told her that she was going to die… how she cried in Four Island… how she experienced the thrill of seeing me for the second time… how she felt when the realization hit her a while ago…

--

Lorelei encircled her arms around my waist as we made it back through Lilycove. I didn't blush like last time, but instead I felt I've accomplished something important in my life. Altaria was singing to a new, soothing, calming tune. After landing, I decided to spend the night in the inn, too. I rented another room, the one next to Lorelei's.

And now, as I lie awake, staring at the gray ceiling, I smiled. I won't let anyone hurt her. I'll kill if I have to. But I hoped that this wouldn't reach to that.

A thousand tactics and strategies formed inside my illogical mind. I'm not alone anymore. I will find a hole in this mess. I can thwart Rocket's plan with her as my inspiration. I will keep her safe. I'll bring back Steven, as she reminded me to. I'll try not to kill anyone as she told me not to. I'll be by her side until my last dying breath comes.

I can bring everything back to normal because everything starts with her at this moment.

She's my life now…

…Lorelei.

Goodnight.

--

_**Author's Notes: **_Whoa. I **certainly** did not expect that whole soulmate thing myself. I was just reading Eclipse from the Twilight Saga when I came across the imprinting of the werewolves. And BAM! It hit me hard enough and sent me flying across the room to land on a chair with my laptop infront of me. Please review~!


	12. Chapter 12: Lorelei's Point of view

**Chapter 12: Lorelei's Point (of view)**

Somehow, the thought of being with Vincent calms me a bit. Yes, I know, it sounded merely impossible since I was _supposed_ to hate him for his perfection. No, there was something more to that. I hate him because he tried to be close to me, just like any other person. He wants to know me better, my past, my present, and even my near-future. Of course he would not say verbally that he wants to get to know me, but trust me, I know he does. His actions told me so.

"Are you done?" Vincent popped me out of my own mind. When I nodded, he took out his wallet from his back-pocket and flashed a gleaming platinum credit card in the cashier. "I'll pay."

The cash registrar was apparently hiding her smile. Who would've thought that the GREAT Vincent would come and buy in this store for dolls? I let him pay, obviously, he offered in the first place, so I have no right to argue with him. The registrar punched the numbers as she swiped the credit card. An assistant registrar was starting to wrap the dolls that I bought (that Vincent paid); a Kecleon doll, a Torchic doll, a Flygon doll, an Altaria doll and the Walrein doll that I was hoping to buy in Slateport City. All dolls were of medium and large sizes, so I was a speck worried of the price.

"That would be ¥8,600, sir." The registrar announced, her voice showing no inch of shame. The other costumers, who were stealing glances from me and Vincent, gaped.

"Yeah, I know." He said, nonchalantly.

I almost flushed. A couple of days ago, Vincent decided to stop using disguises when we go out. He said it would bring us more trouble if the people find out that we are hiding from them. And now, all people, young and old, bald and not, are assuming that we are together. As in _together_ together. The media have tried to get inside scoop on us but because of Vincent's helpful Altaria, we would always fly out of trouble.

We walked out of the streets, with a crowd trailing behind us. Vincent offered to carry the loot for me—three paper bags. The paparazzi were taking pictures again, and if I know, our faces would be all over the television and the internet. Sometimes, I'd ask Vincent about our publicity, but he'd always say that the issue would just die down like a weak fire.

…but we've been on the news for weeks and almost a month, for heaven's sake, is this his weak fire?

And as usual, he got Altaria to fly to some place we could rest. And that was the deserted area near Fallarbor Town.

"You seemed idiotically silent," I told him. He had no reaction whatsoever. It was as if he did not hear anything. "Have you cut your tongue off by accident?"

He shook his head and continued walking. There was something wrong with him. He seemed to be a totally different person now.

I smacked a palm on his face. "Hey, you're passing out."

No response again. This time, I decided to leave him and his selfish thoughts.

It was a starry night, as usual and my legs were failing me. I saw a nearby bench and sat on it. When Vincent saw me, I patted the empty space next to me for him to sit. And sit he did, without hesitation, and placed the paper bags at the back of the bench. For a moment, he was dead silent; no talking, no smiling, no emotion whatsoever.

Through these past few days, I wondered if he was sick or has eaten something dangerous to his psychological health. I never see him smile, or smirk, or get angry at me. It was odd and unusual for him, because the first time I saw him, his killer smile was flashing bright infront of my eyes. But I know his appearance in my life was just to distract me—of my upcoming death. Because whenever he is around, I would always forget that Agatha had a vision of me dying.

But since Vincent was with me almost all the time as my personal bodyguard, I could easily notice what had changed.

"You don't act like yourself these past few days," I started to murmur, keeping my eyes on the starry night sky. "You don't give me that smug face anymore… You don't bicker with me anymore… You've given up on Flannery… You don't care even if our pictures are on the media… You aren't concerned of your career anymore… You rarely talk… You don't smile…"

"Does it make any difference to you?" He asked; his eyes closed.

"Yes," I nodded to myself. "It makes a great difference."

Vincent looked liked sleep talking. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping, but when you try to talk to him, he responds; while at it, I discovered the perfection of the planes in his face—things that I didn't quite notice before because of my stubborn, selfish mind. He seemed so calm… so peaceful… It was as if no one was there with him and his peaceful mind. His face was illuminated by the bright moonlight, and I could only wish that he would not open his eyes at this moment. I wanted to take a picture of him and frame it on my wall on Four Island.

"Have you ever felt that you were alone, all by yourself?" He suddenly asked; his voice drabbled like sleep talk. "…The feeling where you can't trust anyone anymore?"

Transformation slowly consumed me. I was entering a black hole and there was no escape. I saw myself in the middle of empty space; the planets were orbiting on their axis, the stars were radiantly shining some light years away, the space satellites were there, and other things… and me? I was also there, floating and floating and ever so slowly, melting with the heat of the stars. Vincent had his eyes open, but he did not meet my gaze. And still, here I was, in the open outer space, with Vincent infront of me, as if he was the only one who could help me get back to Earth.

I tried to ignore the feeling I was getting; my voice drabbled, "Most of the time… really…"

"I feel like that now." He sighed. "I have a lot of things in my mind. I want to shout. I want to explode. I want someone to hear me out…"

Vincent's soft tenor was my salvation. It was like he was the first person who ever reached out to me, who wanted to know who I was. He was the one who tried to save me from giving my life up to a stupid unreasonable vision. He was the person who I always see the first thing in the morning, and the last at night, when he drops me in the inn he owns at Lilycove. He was the guy who wanted to keep me safe and chose to guard me than to earn his money and businesses. He was the one who pays all my expenses, even though I my money more than enough for me. He was the one who always cheers me up in the darkest of times.

Thinking about all the things he has done for me, I realized that I shouldn't be angry with him in the first place.

"I'll do." I nodded and tried to help him out as I tried to figure the hidden shapes behind the stars. "It's harder for me. You see, I've accepted the fact that I'm going to die sooner than everyone else. And with each passing minute, I try not to think ahead of my future. I've accepted the fact that there will be no future for me anymore, all my deepest dreams, my unfulfilled wishes… They're nothing to me now, because I'm going to die. You're lucky that no one has foreseen your death. You have a life infront of you, unlike me."

All he did was nod… nod and nod. But it did not matter now—Vincent is my salvation. I know he would do everything to keep me safe even though we did not share precious memories like Flannery and him. Somewhere, beneath this cold heart of mine, something hard was melting—it was the ice that froze me. He was melting it, slowly by slowly; Vincent was melting the ice that made me cold and emotionless. He would do everything just to disprove my death. And I thank him for that.

Then, bit by bit, I was no longer in outer space. Vincent held my hand, and aided me back here; back in Fallarbor. He was my savior. All the things that life offered were in him. And he was offering himself to me. After that, everything started to go into slow motion. His face became the light—my light. He became the center of my life, and the foundation of my humanity. It was weird, and I almost freaked out. But it seemed like everything that I hated about him turned into something I've never experienced before.

Love.

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm kidding, of course. I don't really care about death or life."

Because all I really care about is you.

Vincent was studying my face when I laughed. Then, our eyes met. And no, sparks did not light up, because this time, the sparks were turned to unbreakable bonds between our souls. At this time, I was asking myself. What the hell was I saying? But I did not care; we rarely meet or even see our soul mates in a distance, but for me, Vincent was right beside me the whole time, unnoticed.

"Vincent?" I called his name, and it sounded so beautiful now in my ears. _Vincent_… "Are you alright? We were just talking and then your face went blank."

"Sorry," He apologized. His head bowed, and he gulped. "I'm really sorry. Forgive me."

His voice sounded so god-like, like Apollo's soul soothing music or Athena's calming flute.

"No," I mussed his hair and chuckled. "It's alright. Seriously, you look like you just woke up from a dream."

"Can I?" He asked.

I knew what he meant by that. Of course! I nodded and he rested his head on my lap for the first time.

"You knew?" He asked. I know he was able to understand me in a way that I've never thought we can. It was as if I can read his mind, his soul.

"Just a few minutes earlier than you did," She sighed; her hand still on my hair. She laughed. "…Though I managed to look perfectly normal after that. You look like you've seen a ghost. It must've startled you greatly, you were white as a sheet."

It was a way that we both understood each other. We don't need words anymore. We can communicate without saying anything just as our eyes were completely focused on the other. It felt kind of funny; there was this new level of commitment and adoration that was washing over me. I felt like I can do anything with him. I felt I was complete… I was whole.

'_I thought this was magic.'_ I told him in my mind. And I can hear the words clearly. It was amazing. It was perfect.

'_Me too, I wonder how can all these happen?'_ He thought.

'_I don't know but I love it. I don't need to waste my time talking.'_

'_But promise me you won't rely on our thoughts.'_

'_Why?'_

'_I would love to hear your voice echoing in my head.'_

We stared at each other's eyes for an hour, talking silently with our lips closed. My whole life started to unfold itself as she was in my thoughts. His life was infront of me, too. And I can feel every moment of his life as it were my own. There were no secrets between us as clips of memorable moments our lives were traded back and forth our minds. I saw how Flannery asked him to be her birthday gift… how he grew up with her and his wealthy family… how his mother and father died in a car accident… how he confessed his love to Flannery to seek comfort and to move on with his parents' death… how he endured training his Pokémon to the terrifying extremes… how Flannery suddenly left him without a trace… how he tried to live after that… how he saw the danger in Team Rocket… how he made it through the Kanto gyms just to warn me about my death… how he tried to reach out to me… how a part of him insisted that he was in love with me but kept on denying… how he wanted to see me again… and how he felt when the realization hit him a while ago…

--

As we flew through the dark night sky, I felt comfortable when I reached for his waist and encircled my arms around it. Vincent completed my life.

Knowing my own death is harder than it sounds, but now that Vincent will be here right beside me, I know everything would be alright.

I know he can bring everything back to normal because everything starts with him at this moment.

He's my life now…

…Vincent.

Goodnight.

--

_**Author's Notes:**_ I'm really, truly sorry for updating sooo late. To make up for that, I'll publish chapter 13 this week. To the readers, please continue to review because you are my inspiration~ Ja~


	13. Chapter 13: Through the Publicity

**Chapter 13: Through the Publicity**

Vincent waited for Lorelei outside of her room, instead of the usual outside-of-the-inn. He was eager to see her again, as much as she did. And when she came out, he was smiling his best smile. His drowsy emerald green eyes locked with her azure eyes for a second.

'_Are you ready?'_ He asked from the back of his head. He raised his elbow, with a 90 degree angle.

She breathed and smiled. She felt like she was a resurrected person born from the ashes of the past. She hooked her arm around his elbow, like the ones in formal dances.

"Let's go."

--

The door opened and caught everyone's attention. In that instant, cameras clicked, fans screamed and the camcorders rolled. It was the first time that they've seen Vincent and Lorelei walking hand in hand as if they're walking through a red carpet. It was the first time they've seen them acting so casually with the other because they were used to see Vincent trail behind her like a tail. Now, he was half a step ahead, walking with her. It was the first time they've seen Lorelei smile angelically, who knew her stone face had shallow dimples? It was the first time they've seen them both happy together.

"Look, look!" A woman had pointed to them. "They're both wearing couple shirts!"

The crowd gasped, screamed louder and took more pictures of them as they paused (or posed) in the doorframe of the inn. Vincent wore a light pink shirt with big bold words which seemed to shout at the front, '**I'M WITH HER**' the arrow pointed to his left, where Lorelei stood. She wore exactly the same shirt, with the same shade of light pink, but only with a difference at the word. '**I'M WITH HIM**'

"They're sooooo cute~!" A Junior trainer had shouted amidst the crowd.

"I told you back in Slateport, right? I was right~!" A Senior answered.

"They look so good together~!"

Now, no one knew exactly what happened to these two high-profiled people since yesterday. Nonetheless, the people adored them more. A new fan club was given birth due to the couple's rising popularity. Numerous pictures were taken, spotting the two as they went through different stores in Hoenn. Vincent took this chance to buy dolls for Lorelei's collection. In mere hours, the two were the most talked people in both Hoenn and Kanto. The Kanto Indigo League bombing was forgotten for a while, and it was Vincent and Lorelei's time to shine.

"I bet you saw one of the posters in Fallarbor, right?" He asked her when they were on top of the skies, riding on Altaria's supple back.

"You mean the one with the LOLLIPOP?" She chuckled lightly, her head resting on his back. "Is that where we're heading to?"

"Yeah," He smiled, swerving Altaria past the thick mist of clouds. "Wallace would be with me, with three guys more."

"Wait, you mean a big lollipop with red swirls?" She was grinning. "Immature much?"

Vincent shrugged. "We're invited to guest a concert in Fallarbor. Winona will be there and the rest of the Ever Grande Elite Four, you don't have to worry about companions."

He knew she wasn't worry about having companions. He turned a part of his head to meet her pleading gaze from behind.

'_What about Steven? We have to find him as soon as possible.'_

'_You know, I'd be willing to cancel our special appearance in the concert, if that's what you really want. But this is a good opportunity to meet with the rest of the Ever Grande Elites to talk about future plans. I promise that I'll be going with Lance to the Scorched Slab as soon as the plans are laid out perfectly. We don't want to get risky, do we?'_

'_I know that, of course. But Steven's one of my closest friends, you have to understand that.'_ She gulped. _'And I'll go with you to the Scorched Slab no matter what happens.'_

Vincent shook his head and turned his view back infront. "No, we can't risk both of our lives."

"That's a trap, Vincent," She said, while looking down as they passed Mt. Chimney. "They want you to think the opposite of what they said. They know you'd think that instead of bringing me with you, you will leave me in a safer place. If you only know what they could do to you if you're outnumbered, you will think twice about leaving me behind."

"I've handled both Teams Aqua and Magma at the same time. Team Rocket alone is half the threat." He smiled, confident of himself. Then he frowned a bit. "I can handle this one with my own Pokémon. You don't need to worry about me."

'_But I can't help it.'_ She frowned back. _'I'm afraid for you.'_

"Aren't you supposed to be afraid for yourself because they're after you?" He asked, swerving down to a dive.

They landed infront of the Fallarbor Battle tent. The media were waiting there, of course. Blinding lights terrorized the area as the cameras went wild with frenzy. Vincent jumped down from Altaria and a swarm of fan girls screamed. He reached out for Lorelei and helped her down by the waist. Another wave of screaming and shouting deafened them. Interviewers crammed for their attention but Vincent knew better than them and led Lorelei inside. She thought about the noise from the mob and assumed that Vincent wouldn't hear her thoughts.

'_Just don't do what might hurt the both of us.'_ She sighed. _'I love you.'_

It was her own hidden instincts that urged her to say that in her head. Lorelei flushed slightly after she realized what she had thought. She hoped that Vincent's thoughts were too full to listen to hers.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" Vincent said and offered his arm. Lorelei breathed deeply and hooked her arm with his. How she was grateful that he didn't hear her! She'd be so embarrassed, knowing that he was the first person she'd confessed her love and devotion too. They proceeded backstage quietly.

From the black doors, Wallace came out and greeted both of them with a chuckle. "Nice shirts, you two. Vincent, why don't you escort your lady love to Winona in the audience? Brawly and Roxanne are also there with Tate and Liza. The Evergrande Elites are present as ever. Go, and then come back for the dressing room."

Lorelei tried to hide her smile. "No, that's alright, Wallace. I'll go to them by myself." She glanced at Vincent. "He needs extra time for make-up; he didn't sleep well last night."

"Hey??" Vincent gave her a questioning look. "It was _you_ who didn't sleep well last night!"

Wallace burst into laughter, but his elegance wasn't affected in the slightest; he still glittered. "Oho! Very well then, Vincent, come on."

Lorelei unhooked her arm from his and smiled. "I'll be going."

"Take care," Vincent nodded and stole a kiss on her cheek. _'Trust me, things will be alright. I love you, too.'_

_**Author's notes:**_whew! Lately, I've been focusing on other stories so I'm really trying my best to squeeze out ideas for this fic. But I know you'll all enjoy the next chapters. Mwahahahahahahahahah! Keep on reviewing!


	14. Chapter 14: Unpaired

**Chapter 14: Un-paired?**

The big amphitheatre was full of people of all ages, men and women, trainers and ordinary citizens; this concert was a blast. It was a cute kiddy dance-Lollipop, only that the dancers weren't kids themselves. In the center of the stage, five guys were dancing to the catchy tune of a popular song in their composition. It was odd, for guys to compose a song as if they were a simple boy-band, neither trainer nor Elites. But what they were actually doing—dancing; not just _dancing_ but hip-hop ones where it would require a body's maximum bending ability and flexibility to execute those darn moves.

The crowd was wild, and so were Vincent, Wallace and the three other members, who happen to be as popular as them, Juan, and Brawly and Lance, who were guest members because Steven and Lucian weren't present at the time. Whatever happened to the Sinnoh trainers? Nobody knows, since Lucian disappeared last year, he was labeled as missing.

Lorelei watched the performance intently, as she sat beside Winona on her left and Roxanne on her right on the VIP seats near the stage. Her eyes were glued to Vincent the whole time, and she did not know why. It was very odd. Yesterday, in just a blink of an eye, she had found her other half in Vincent. Was that really possible? To fall in love with a man you just met, and considering her hatred towards him had vanished, had she really felt that connection with him?

Yes. Yes, she did feel the connection with him. What bothered her was the why part. Why did Vincent have to be her soulmate, whatsoever, not Lance? Lance had always been there for her, why not him? And Steven, her childhood friend, why not him too? He was her ideal man, the strong but humble type, why not him? Why Vincent, who was everyone's love? She asked herself as she watched Vincent dance onstage.

Winona leaned to her, her eyes still glued to the bright colorful stage. "You know if you called me a bit earlier, I would've prepared a party for you and my brother."

"I didn't expect this to happen. Things like this come without an explanation." Lorelei shook her head no, a small smile forming at the end of her lips. "I knew you would understand, Winona. You will be my sister, after all."

She decided to just accept that fact that she was stuck with Vincent forever, or until she dies, without doubt. Why Vincent? She knew the answer—it was because Lance could not save her from death. His heart wasn't as strong as Vincent's while Steven's aloofness was his disadvantage. Steven could save her from death, yes, but he would insist to do it alone, just like now. He decided to spy on Team Rocket alone, without anyone's help. What Lorelei need was someone who will stick with her through the end, and it was, undeniably, Vincent, no one else.

Vincent was singing now, and with his cute pink and white stripes and that smile of his, he looked totally charming. He smiled everytime it was needed and did all things cute that there was no inch of gap between the screaming of his fangirls. A large backdrop was held by the girls at the dark end of the amphitheatre; his picture was there, and words were boldly printed to be seen from afar. '**I'M WITH HER: VINCENT.**' It was amazing how the girls printed such words after they saw Lorelei and Vincent's couple shirt a few hours ago.

As he sang his part, together with the dance, he knew Lorelei was watching him. He turned in a swift motion and winked as he sang the rest of his lines.

"Oh, how cute!" Roxanne exclaimed as she giggled beside Lorelei. "You've got yourself a winker, Lorelei!"

"Please," Lorelei rolled her eyes. Winker- someone who winks. Winona was laughing her head off, and so was Roxanne but Lorelei ignored them both. It was time for someone to act like a real lady here. Vincent looked cute with that wink but Roxanne's comment about a winker pulled her mood down.

When he saw her roll her eyes, Vincent immediately turned his gaze to the audience, uncountable and noisy, as he stepped behind for Brawly to step into the spotlight. A large tarpaulin that read; 'MORE BRAWL FOR BRAWLY' was present just near his banner. He continued to smile as if nothing had happened and danced with his bone-breaking moves.

When the half dozen of songs were sung, the concert was over. The guys called it a day and so did the audience. It was already late afternoon and the sun was definitely setting. Lorelei, Winona and Roxanne went straight backstage to give their unsolicited comments to the over-cutely guys.

"Did you really have to flex your biceps everytime you smile?" Roxanne asked as she flicked Brawly's ear. "You didn't look at the mirror before you got onstage did you?! And look at these frills! Who's your costume designer here?"

Brawly laughed and removed the itchy frills he was told to wear. He was supposed to sing Lucian's part but it wasn't really necessary to dress like him. Lucian loved frills and embellishments at the hem of his clothes—Bruno wanted plain. Anyway, the show was over and there was no harm done so he told Roxanne to dismiss his clothing issue.

"Oh yeah, I have an afternoon class, I almost forgot!" She gasped.

Brawly grabbed her hand and headed for the door. "Then you don't want to be late, don't you? Let's go!"

Roxanne managed to wave a hand to the remaining people backstage before Brawly dragged her outside. "Bye guys, nice concert! See you when you visit Rustboro!"

Wallace, Winona, Lance, Vincent and Lorelei waved back. Winona was lecturing Wallace about being non-cooperative in the dance routines. Most of the time, he was dazzling the crowd as the other members danced all their might. He could not help it though, as he hears every scream of his fans, he gets overwhelmed and often misses the beat.

"Come on, Wie, I'm sorry! I was besieged by the diabolical audience!" He reasoned out in the most helpful way—calling Winona by her cute nickname. And instead of accepting his apology, Winona stuck a tongue out.

"Calling me _Wie _won't change things." She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back on him. "You get distracted by the audience too much, you should learn to control your dazzling skills and use it appropriately."

Wallace whined. "But it's not easy to block your ears when you hear the crowd chanting your name!"

"Whatever, I'll go home." She rolled her eyes and walked out with a silent smile on her lips. Wallace ran after her in haste. She always loves to bully Wallace; he looks so cute and adorable. When they get to Fortree, she'll give him a warm hug perhaps.

Lorelei turned to Vincent when the two were out of sight. "Are they always like that?"

"How would I know…" Vincent grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed. "Ask them."

She continued to pack his bag and returned his Pokéballs. "What's with you? Why all the cold treatment?"

"Nothing," He ignored her and got his own bag. However, when words failed him, his thoughts didn't. '_You rolled your eyes when I winked at you. Why?'_

She bit her lower lip from laughing. Come on, does he have to be so sensitive? _'Roxanne called you a Winker and I didn't like the sound of that. Either way, you're the cutest of the bunch and also the most idiotic.'_

His frown curved upwards and gave her a wink. "Cute and idiotic… Hmm. I think that will do."

She rolled her eyes. '_I want to go home. I'll try contacting Steven on the way.'_

Together, they went out of the room as silent as they can be. Words weren't necessary when they could read each other. But somehow, they seemed to forget that there was a person in the room besides them that they missed waving a goodbye to him.

"Love… Love… Love…" Lance sighed as he fixed his bag. Afterwards, he cleaned his area in the dressing room and walked sluggishly to the door. It was frustrating for him to see all of them, Wallace, Brawly and Vincent, all with their partners. It was like he was the ugly duckling and he didn't belong in the group. He was alone and single, and there was no one to ease his heart out to. He called out. "Where will I find love?"

And suddenly, as if a miracle happened, his PokéNav vibrated in his pockets. He dug for it and immediately answered the call with an eager smile.

"Hello? Oh, hey, Flannery, why'd you call me?"

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: Hey hey hey! Long time to update for me. Tsk3. I just squeezed this idea right out of my mind so I'm sorry if this didn't turn out to be a good chapter. Time to celebrate, exam week is over! Yay! Please review and I'll squeeze my mind again for further chapters.


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